


Coming Back to Life

by Adreamermusing



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, BAMF Hatake Kakashi, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, In which Kaguya destroyed everything, Kakashi knows Hiraishin, Liberties with Canon, M/M, Saving the World, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, Team Minato feels, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24251104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adreamermusing/pseuds/Adreamermusing
Summary: A year after Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's resurrection, the Allied Shinobi forces are nearly defeated. Try as they might, nothing seems to dent the goddess of chakra. In the end, there's only one battalion remaining, and one last chance to save the world from darkness. Kakashi dies in the battle thinking he's going beyond the veil to see his old friends. Too bad Naruto's got other plans for him.Kakashi's eight-years-old again. He doesn't have the chakra or stamina to go up against gods; he also doesn't have a lot of time left to save the world. But, he's dealt with impossible odds many times before. And luckily, this time, he's got help.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Kushina, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Slight Hatake Kakashi/Momochi Zabuza/Terumi Mei
Comments: 154
Kudos: 906
Collections: Home of Magnificent Fanfiction





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the one-thousandth fic based on the nail of "What if Kakashi travelled back in time?" Super original, I know.
> 
> So, the Kakashi in this fic is a little different from canon Kakashi. I'm giving him skills that I believe he would have had in canon if he wasn't nerfed. Also, my knowledge of the Naruto world is largely dependent on my memory of reading the manga years ago. So, please excuse any discrepancies. The main Kakashi pairing isn't going to be the main focus until a few chapters in, and you will see Kakashi with other people before we get there. There are a lot of things to unpack in the Kakashi/Obito relationship, and Obito needs to come off a pedestal before we see them together. This is my first long work, and I don't have a beta reader so please point out any spelling or grammatical errors when you spot them.
> 
> Warning: The prologue has some description of graphic violence and major character deaths.

_Is it like this_  
_In death's other kingdom_  
_Waking alone_  
_At the hour when we are_  
_Trembling with tenderness_  
_Lips that would kiss_  
_Form prayers to broken stone._

_-T.S.Eliot, The Hollow Men_

“They’re all gone,” Naruto says bitterly to the now last remaining battalion. “The fifth division is gone. A giant bijudama took them out. We’re all that’s left.”

Kakashi compartmentalizes, tucks away that piece of information in the back of his head like he’s done since the beginning of the war, not dwelling on the fact that Yugao and Kurenai were part of the fifth division, just another tally to keep until he joins them. It’s telling that everyone else’s reaction is muted as well. Their grief is quiet, almost defeated—nothing like the anguished rage that clutched their hearts when Kaguya attacked the Allied Forces the first time, completely wiping out half of their shinobi. They were discovering what Kakashi already knew, that it was possible for a person to exhaust their grief until all that remained was ghosts.

“Alright,” says Kakashi. “Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru. Could I have a word with you please?”

They huddle together on a cliff facing the sunset. They’re in the Land of Lightning, having come as reinforcements when Kaguya’s most recent attack hit. All that was left to greet them were broken bodies and a bloodstained battlefield. Killer Bee, Mei Terumi, A, and Gaara were only some of those they’d lost in that fight. Shikamaru lights a cigarette as sunset reds and oranges blaze across the sky.

“We need to figure out what our next plan is,” Kakashi starts, “now that we’re the only battalion left.”

“Yeah.” Naruto says desolately.

For Kakashi, one of the most terrible things this war has taken from them is the light and smile in Naruto’s eyes, leaving behind this bitter, almost cynical young man before him. It’s almost as if Kakashi’s watching Obito’s devolution without the Uchiha curse. Sasuke’s death changed Naruto, broke his heart as much as Rin’s death broke Obito’s. Now, a year and so many more deaths later, Naruto was questioning whether there were enough precious people to even fight for.

“Kurama says he’s got a plan,” Naruto says, jolting Kakashi out of his thoughts. “We might not be able to save this reality, but we could go back in time, prevent all of this from happening.”

“Time-travel? How is such a thing even possible?” Shikamaru asks.

“Well, Kurama says he can do it!” Naruto says, showing signs of hope for the first time in months. “I can go back with him by—”

Kakashi hears a large explosion and feels debris fly in front of him. _Fuck._ This can only mean one thing.

“Another attack! Let’s go! This time, let’s try attacking Kaguya in her blind spot.” Shikamaru says.

By the time they reach the main camp away from the cliff, they find an aftermath they’ve seen many times before. When Sakura spots Ino’s dead body, she wails and cries and rages like she hasn’t done since Sasuke passed. Shikamaru’s right beside her, brushing Ino’s limp hair disbelievingly. Naruto looks on grimly, aging at least ten years in seconds.

Then, Kaguya fires an ash bone at Sakura and Shikamaru. And it isn’t a thought, but an instinct that leads Kakashi to use Hiraishin to teleport in front of them (he’d marked Sakura with a seal a long time ago). Kakashi feels pain and blood and the world goes blurry in front of him. This is not at all like the first time he died. He can hear Sakura screaming his name; Kakashi wants to tell her that saving her life was possibly the best thing he’s ever done. But instead, he tells her the words he’s always left unsaid.

“Sakura, I’m proud of you.” He can hear her sobbing.

“Sensei!” _Ah._ That’s Naruto. He could apologize a million times to this boy and it still wouldn’t be enough.

“Sensei,” Naruto says through muffled sobs. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay, I promise you.” Naruto places his hand against Kakashi’s forehead. All Kakashi can see and feel is a bright light.

And then, it’s over.


	2. killing the past (and coming back to life)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi's eight-years-old again. The universe sets things in motion.

_I took a heavenly ride through our silence_  
_I knew the moment had arrived_  
_For killing the past and coming back to life_

Kakashi wakes up eight-years-old. Or at least it feels like he’s eight-years-old. He’s in his old apartment, which means it’s after Sakumo’s death, but the missing team picture from the dresser tells him that Team Minato hasn’t been formed yet. So he’s still Minato’s apprentice, which puts him somewhere between seven and eight years old. But he somehow just knows he’s eight.

Kakashi’s trying really hard to not think about the fact supposed to be dead. It was supposed to be over, but Naruto decided to send him back in time.

But why? Why didn’t he send himself? Wasn’t that the initial plan? Or maybe Naruto’s lifetime was too late a time to truly fix things? Maybe Naruto didn’t want to go back?

Either way, Kakashi has to stop the world from ending while he’s stuck in an eight-year-old body. Great.

Well, first thing’s first. It’s morning, which means he has to go meet Minato-sensei soon. It’s time for breakfast. So, the thing that’s in his control right now is eating breakfast and meeting sensei.

Kakashi has always thrived in order. He’s excellent at following rules and taking orders. He likes to be in control; it gives him comfort to know what his day looks like. If you know what you’re supposed to do, you can guess what the future holds. This was why he thrived in ANBU. There weren’t complications. If he was given an assassination mission, he knew he would either kill his target or die trying. It was comforting and simple; there weren’t a lot of ways things could go wrong in ANBU; it either ended in his death or the enemy's. ANBU missions were so tightly controlled and organized that there usually weren’t other variables to create other choices.

Ironically enough, his mental health was better when he was “cold-blooded Kakashi” than the time he’d spent as jounin-sensei or the two years he spent as commander of the third division in the Allied Forces. Give him ten back-to-back S-rank missions and he’d be fine, as fine as shinobi could be anyway. Give him Team Seven, and…well, it was a world-ending fuck-up to say the least.

But strangely enough, Kakashi thinks as he pours cereal and milk in a bowl for breakfast, the fact that he already knows what the future holds is comforting. He knows exactly how things are going to go, and he can change things. Or at least try. If it doesn’t go right this time either, well, he is his father’s son.

But he can’t do this alone. He just doesn’t have the power yet. He’s only eight-years-old and he doesn’t have nearly enough chakra or stamina to use any of his old jutsu. God forbid how long it would take for him to be able to use the Hiraishin and Shiden again. Yet, he can’t wait until he is strong enough. The fate of the world depends on rectifying everything that would happen in the next six years.

The only person Kakashi can trust is Minato sensei but what if Minato sensei doesn’t believe him? The worst-case scenario is Minato sensei sending him off to a Yamanaka and boy, he does not want one of them in his head.

But if he doesn’t tell Minato-sensei and tries to do this on his own, he would fail. That’s for certain. There’s still six months until Team Minato is formed, and that’s a can of worms he has to deal with immediately. Hopefully, by not being on Team Minato in the first place.

 _Well_ , Kakashi thinks anxiously, _I’ll have to take a leap of faith and tell him._

* * *

Kushina Uzumaki is meditating like she does every morning. She does this to make sure her chakra isn’t corrupted, that— that thing hasn’t leaked any of its chakra into hers. She’s taking deep breaths, not thinking about the kyuubi as Mito-sama said, because if she does think about the kyuubi, she usually ends up facing it in her mindscape.

Doesn't work. Kushina stands in front of a giant cage, facing the kyuubi in all its malevolent glory.

“Wha-” she startles, “why did you bring me here?” Kushina asks belligerently.

“Shut up, Uzumaki.” The kyuubi rumbles. It looks different today. In fact, Kushina can’t read the hate or malice that’s usually there.

“Listen to me. I don’t care for you at all as my container, but someone else would want me to, which is the only reason I’m doing this. You must change the future if you don’t wish to see the world end.”

Well, that isn’t ominous at all.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”, Kushina says truthfully. “Is this one of your tricks to make me let my guard down and weaken the seal?”

“No, you stupid woman! I don’t care about escaping right now. In any case, I must remain sealed inside of you until my rightful jinchuuriki comes along. But I would like that to be a kinder circumstance this time.” The kyuubi says. “I have travelled from the future, from a place where the world ended.”

Kushina swallows, a ball of dread forming in her stomach. This is an elaborate trick most likely to fool her into weakening the seal but, but if it is true…

“I can’t trust you,” Kushina tells the kyuubi, who only scoffs at her. “How am I supposed to trust you? All you’ve wanted to do is kill me!”

“And who is to blame for that?!” The kyuubi roars. “The only thing you humans have ever done is control me. Whether it was the Uchiha or the Senju or anyone else, the only thing you seek from me is power. You’ve kept me locked up in chains for nearly a century! And you have the audacity to blame me for seeking my freedom?”

Kushina can’t really say anything to that because she never really thought about the kyuubi’s feelings, never thought the kyuubi could even have feelings. She looks at its chained leg. It looks uncomfortable. If she was chained up like that, she’d probably want to kill the person responsible too. For the first time ever, she considers the fact that just as she didn’t ever have a choice in becoming a jinchuuriki, the kyuubi didn’t have a choice in becoming sealed inside her.

But still, she can’t trust it.

“Anyway Uzumaki, it is of no consequence to me whether you listen or not. I am warning you because I am indebted to my rightful jinchuuriki, who is yet to be born. Either way, I must wait until we reunite.”

Kushina’s eyes widen. Another jinchuuriki in the future. That could only mean—

“Do I die? The only way for you to be sealed in someone else is if I die.”

The kyuubi looks at her; there’s something almost remorseful in its face.

“Yes, you die. And the next jinchuuriki happens to be your son.”

“What? My son? That’s…. impossible.” Kushina never planned to become a mother; she’d resolved to it a long time ago. Pregnancy was simply too risky for a jinchuuriki to go through.

“It is true. Remember. What you do next can change the future.”

And then Kushina is yanked out of her mindscape, gasping on her knees. _What the fuck just happened?_

The kyuubi had told her what seemed to be a bunch of nonsense. But it wasn’t hateful or malevolent like it usually was. She shifts her shirt up and looks at the seal. It seems fine, nothing is out of order. Neither is her chakra.

 _I have a son?_ Kushina never thought motherhood was even an option for her. And now, if what the kyuubi was saying was true, she would not only be a mother but pass on her burden to her child. _The father, it has to be-_

An image of blonde hair and blue eyes comes to mind unbidden. Kushina feels her cheeks heat. There’s no one else it could be, no one else Kushina could even think of having a child with. The idea that she and Minato would have a child is wonderful and terrifying. She wants to believe it.

* * *

_And then, Sayuri screamed Eiichi’s name in ecstasy. He made her feel so good. One hand was squeezing her plump breasts, as the fingers of his other hand massaged her womanhood._

“I have a feeling Icha-Icha is going to be a hit.” Jiraiya giggles excitedly as he writes his new romance novel in a seedy hotel room in a town in the Land of Fire. He’s stopping for a few days before heading back to Konoha with intel.

Jiraiya then hears Gamabunta appear. He turns around, mood immediately sobering. The last time Gamabunta appeared without a summon was to take him to the Great Toad Sage, which reminds him, he really needs to check up on Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. He has no doubt that those three will change the world but he's really not liking the news he’s getting about Hanzo.

“Jiraiya,” Gamabunta says gravely. “The Toad Sage wishes to see you. It has to do with the prophecy.”

Jiraiya’s eyebrows raise. That sounds ominous. He goes next to Gamabunta. “Well, you kinda interrupted my masterpiece,” Jiraiya says lightly. “But I guess it’ll have to take a backseat to the prophecy. Alright then, let’s go.”

Poof! And then, they’re on Mount Myoboku, in front of the Great Toad Sage. Jiraiya breathes in the fresh air. He’ll never quite get used to Mount Myoboku. That feeling of wonder, awe, and enchantment he’d felt when he first witnessed the lush green meadows and the fountains of oil flowing out of the large toad statues is the same. There’s no time to dwell on that now though. He sits in front of Gamamaru respectfully.

“Jiraiya, there’s been an alteration in the prophecy. The variables in the universe have changed.”

“Alteration? Wait, how can a prophecy just change?” Jiraiya asks, puzzled.

“It’s the most peculiar thing. It’s never happened before. The universe went through a shift yesterday. We have among us someone who is not from this time. With this interference, the prophecy is not the same anymore.”

“A time-traveller?!” Jiraiya exclaims. “What kind of jutsu lets a person time-travel?”

“It is not a jutsu but chakra itself that allowed this to happen.” The Toad Sage says cryptically. “Never mind that, Jiraiya. The part that is relevant to you is this: There is no longer a child of prophecy.”

“What?!” _What about Nagato then?_

“The time-traveller is going to enact many changes, Jiraiya. Changes that make the presence of the child of prophecy null. While there is no longer a child of prophecy, your role in ensuring there is peace in the world of ninja remains the same.”

“So, this time-traveller is going to bring peace to the world.”

“The time-traveller will prevent conflict. You must help the time-traveller in this quest, by ensuring that events leading to catastrophe never pass.”

It’s nice to know the toad sage is as cryptic as ever.

“And how do I find this time-traveller?”

“Go back to Konoha, Jiraiya. You shall meet him very soon. Good luck!”

Jiraiya sucks in a breath and he's reverse-summoned back to the hotel room. He blinks dumbly. Well, that changes a lot of things. If there’s no child of prophecy, that’s a huge load off Jiraiya’s back. _Damn, there’s only one thing left to do._ _And that’s to go back to Konoha to find this time-traveller._ Huh. How strange it is that the fate of his entire future changed in a day. Well, at least he’d get to say hello to Minato again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your feedback and honest thoughts about this story. You could come on over and chat with me on tumblr @thedreamermusing as well!


	3. the seeds of change were planted

_Lost in thought and lost in time_  
_While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted_  
_Outside the rain fell dark and slow_  
_While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime_

  


Kakashi walks to the training ground. He’s been there plenty of times before, but this time he'll be seeing an alive, non-zombie Minato-sensei for the first time in decades, so he’s kind of nervous. And there's also the part where he has to reveal he's from the future. Minato-sensei is a logical man. Kakashi knows this. If he can somehow prove with his knowledge of future events that he’s from the future, things will be okay. If he can’t, well—

“Hey Rin! Let’s go get cake at the bakery.”

“Obito, don’t you need to practice your ninjutsu for sensei’s test tomorrow?”

Kakashi instinctively ducks inside one of the alleyways. The world is shaking, why is the world shaking, Pein isn’t here anymore but oh—it’s not the world, it’s just him. His hands are clenched tightly over his pants. He has no idea how he’s still standing because his legs feel boneless. His heart is beating so hard his chest hurts. There’s not enough air; he can’t breathe; it’s like he’s drowning—

“Aw Rin! I don’t need to practice. I already know this stuff! How can I be Hokage if I don’t even know basic jutsu?”

_“You let Rin die die,” Obito’s sneering visage spits at him._

_“Ka-kashi,” Rin coughs out as his arm punches through her chest._

“I think you should still practice, Obito. I know! I can help you out with it.”

_“Become the sixth hokage," Obito smiles as he disintegrates into ash._

_Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out_ —

“Really? You’re so nice, Rin!”

Eventually the voices fade away. Kakashi’s long given up standing. He’s curled up in the alley on his knees, gasping for breath. He is numb with panic. He knows logically that they’ve gone ahead but it still takes a good half an hour for his panic to abate.

Eventually, he manages to get up, and now he’s filled with shame instead of panic. He just heard their voices, and that was enough for him to have a complete panic attack. How would he survive with them on his team? God, even hearing their voices was unbearable.

Kakashi takes a few more deep breaths and lets them out. After Team Minato perished the first time around, he’d always remembered them through rose-tinted memories, the thoughts of “if only” plaguing him. But the simple truth is that until the last ten minutes of Obito’s life, they were never really a team.

Kakashi never saw Team Minato as one and Obito; well, he has no idea how to even view Obito’s interactions with him considering what he become in the latter half of his life. Rin was kind and tried her best; Minato-sensei did too despite his frequent absences during the war, but the truth is they never worked. They were a terrible team. Even more terrible than his Team Seven. Team Seven wasn’t shipped off to war at the very least. Maybe in peacetime it could have been different but there’s no point dwelling on “if onlys” anymore.

The question that remains, and the question he’s avoided answering so far is what to do about Obito and Rin. There’s still a little less than a year before his apprenticeship with Minato-sensei ends and they’re joined by Obito and Rin. The tragedy of Team Minato is pretty much responsible for everything that goes wrong in the future. In fact, this is one part of the future he can control. He can make sure Obito isn’t as lonely, work as an actual team, prevent the Kannabi Bridge mission from going horribly wrong. He wants to save them. Of course he does; they’re his team but—

He can’t even bring himself to hear their voices before losing control completely.

And Obito…

It’s easy to assume things will go right this time, that even if Kakashi somehow moves past his trauma to push Team Minato into a brighter future, things will be okay. But it’s not that simple. It’s easy to forget that Obito’s been in love with Rin his entire life. Once upon a time, when Kakashi was more naïve, he thought Obito only thought of him as a childish rival, but it was obviously more than that. Rin was Obito’s world. To Obito, it wasn’t just the fact that Kakashi was a better ninja, but that he could take away Rin’s attention without even trying. Kakashi was a representation of everything Obito didn’t have, and a threat to the one good thing he did have in his life. 

The fact that Kakashi could receive Rin’s love and affection without even being kind to her or reciprocating her feelings— Obito resented that. He resented it a lot to say the least. And Kakashi can’t forget that. Even if Kakashi started buddying up to Obito and acted friendly, that kind of resentment wouldn’t go away. It’s not like he could do it anyway; even the thought of facing Obito again is enough to make him feel sick.

(And deep down, Kakashi will privately admit to himself that he has his own resentment for his teammates. There’s a part of him that will never forgive Obito for using his pain as an excuse to ruin the world. And even deeper down, although he knows Rin didn’t have a choice, that she made a split-second decision, he can’t quite forgive her for using him to commit suicide either. Kakashi isn’t Naruto; he can’t quite be as forgiving, and he’s not going to pretend he is.)

No, Kakashi has to find another way to save his team.

Kakashi sits there for another ten minutes. When he feels like he’s somewhat in control, he gets up and walks into the main road, heading to the training ground.

Konoha doesn’t look very different from his time in the future. Apart from the addition and removal of a few shops, a few faces here that weren’t present there, it was the same. Maybe things would change a lot more now that he’s here. Who knows how this Konoha would grow? But then, he sees a child, no older than twelve, roughed up and shell-shocked walking past him, obviously coming back from his first time on the front lines. Kakashi sighs. He wonders whether even with all his efforts, if this could ever change. Hashirama couldn’t manage it, and Naruto never got the chance; Kakashi’s cynical enough to believe that it probably won’t.

Minato-sensei’s waiting for him at the training grounds. He smiles and waves sunnily at Kakashi. Kakashi feels his heart clench in his chest. This is the first time he’s seen Minato-sensei alive, not as a broken, saddened Edo-tensei, having lost two of his three students; but alive with blood and hope and ambition and so in love with Kushina that it's simultaneously gross and sweet to watch.

But Kakashi has experience in dealing with ghosts. And Minato-sensei’s ghost is more uncomplicated than any of the other ones, so he can almost pretend he’s happy.

“Sensei,” he nods.

“Kakashi, you’re ten minutes late today. I was just about to check up on you. Is everything alright?” he asks worriedly.

Kakashi’s heart is still pounding _. Do it, just ask to speak to him alone_ —

“I’m fine, sensei,” Kakashi says, pushing against his self-loathing. And before he can stop himself, he says “I was rescuing a cat stuck in a tree, that’s all.”

“You were….rescuing a cat,” Minato sensei echoes confusedly.

“Yes, sensei,” Kakashi says blandly. “I imagined if it was one of my dogs up there and felt sad.”

Minato-sensei looks at him like he’s an alien. Kakashi has no idea where he’s going with this but he sure as hell does not want to act like his stick-up-his-butt eight-year-old self. Minato-sensei will likely get suspicious, but that would almost be a relief.

“Ooo-kay.” Minato-sensei says, still confused. “Well, let’s try a different kind of training today.”

Minato-sensei draws a circle around the spot where he’s standing with his kunai.

“Your goal today is to get me to step out of this circle. You can use any jutsu you like. If you get me to step out of this circle, you win and I’ll treat you to ramen. If you don’t, you’ll have to run around the outer ring of the village five times, ” he says, smiling in a way that’s both smug and terrifying. Kakashi had used that look on his own students a lot of times.

He really misses them.

“Alright, sensei,” Kakashi says calmly. “You’re on.”

Minato-sensei looks surprised. He was probably expecting Kakashi to get angry. And eight-year-old Kakashi would have gotten angry. He would have thought sensei was underestimating him thinking he didn’t need to even step out of a circle to take him on. But Kakashi is way too old and way too tired to be the brat he once was. Instead, he’ll be a brat in other ways.

“Alright then,” Minato-sensei says. “Let’s begin.”

Kakashi doesn’t need hand signs for this technique but it wouldn’t do to surprise sensei too much. _Doton: Mud Wave._ He places his palm on the ground and sends his chakra through it, shifting the earth beneath him and moving the ground above. As expected, sensei doesn’t move. However, this gives him time to layer his genjutsu. Nothing fancy, a simple genjutsu that makes the enemy feel nauseous and queasy. If used correctly, the enemy could even feel like the world was upside down. The mud wave technique already induces nausea. Using this genjutsu right after can be very powerful. It seems to work. Sensei looks a bit queasy, but this still isn’t the point. Kakashi layers another genjutsu, one that makes it seem like the caster of the jutsu is still stationary in the same spot. Not a shadow clone, but an illusion.

Inside the forest, Minato watches Kakashi with no small amount of wonder and suspicion. _A layered genjutsu? How could Kakashi have improved_ —

“You should have looked underneath the underneath, sensei.”

Minato’s eyes widen as he looks to the right. Kakashi’s heading towards him with just a kunai. Minato’s own kunai clashes against Kakashi’s; then Kakashi _smirks_. He disappears into a flash of lightning, directly transferring shock waves through the kunai which mildly electrocutes Minato. _A lightning clone._ _How in the world?_

The real Kakashi appears looking smug.

“You’re right, Kakashi. My mistake,” he says, a bit jittery.

Although Minato’s still buzzed, he engages Kakashi in another kunai battle. Kakashi's slower now, sluggish, the lightning clone obviously took up a lot of chakra. But he's still far too good at this for Minato's comfort. He decides to end it sometime in, tripping Kakashi into falling and surrendering once the kunai reaches his neck. Even this, Minato is certain this battle ended up exactly the way Kakashi wanted it to. There is something not quite right about his student, and he needs to figure out what.

“That was extraordinary, Kakashi! You exceeded my expectations,” Minato tells him. _How Kakashi managed to become so extraordinary in such a short time is a mystery though._

Kakashi gives him a look that suggests he knows exactly what Minato’s thinking.

“How about we go out for ramen then. You figured out the true purpose of this test, which is to look beyond what is apparent to find the truth underneath. What was that you called it?”

“Looking underneath the underneath, sensei,” Kakashi says dryly.

“Yes! That’s an excellent way to put it. So, let’s go celebrate with some ramen?”

“Sure, sensei. I don’t mind.”

Just then, a frog hops into the training ground. Gamabunta, by the looks of it.

“Gamabunta!” Minato says, surprised. “If you’re here, I’m guessing?”

“Yes, Jiraiya’s here. He wants to talk to you.”

Minato notes from the corner of his eye that Kakashi looks entirely unsurprised to see Gamabunta, another discrepancy. Although Kakashi liked to think of himself as a cold, emotionless tool, the boy could be read like an open book. And this Kakashi was throwing him off with his— expressiveness to say the least. 

“I’m really sorry, Kakashi. We’ll have to push ramen for another day. I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Minato tells him guiltily. He’s not someone who likes to make a habit of breaking promises.

“It’s alright, sensei. We can do it another time,” Kakashi says. _Another strange, un-Kakashi like reaction._

“Alright! I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

They bid their goodbyes and head their separate ways. But Minato turns around and sees Kakashi’s small, narrow back become smaller in the shadows until it eventually disappears. It’s a sight he’s seen many times before, but today is the only day it’s actually worried him.

* * *

  


When Minato Namikaze was ten-years-old, he graduated out of the academy with the highest academy scores in the history of Konoha. His prodigious talent coupled with being led by one of the Sandaime’s students marked him for greatness. Minato knows what it’s like _to just_ _know_ , without wanting to. He knows Danzo is a shady war hawk who would prefer war to peace; he knows Jiraiya will always love Tsunade; he knows he will marry Kushina one day, and now he definitely knows _Kakashi isn’t quite Kakashi._

When Kakashi was made his apprentice, Minato didn’t quite know what to do. He was only fifteen-years old himself and suddenly in charge of a kid so small, you could mistake him for a toddler. But they were surprisingly a good team. And Minato actually liked having a small shadow to teach. Kakashi was a cute little terror, and so, so intelligent.

Things changed after Sakumo of course. That entire ordeal just convinced Minato to protect Kakashi even more, although Kakashi rejected those efforts more times than one. Minato had to watch his once arrogant but kind-hearted student become convinced that he had to be a machine. There were many times in his life that Minato hated this world; seeing a seven-year-old boy recite the ninja handbook in a monotone voice the day after his father’s death was one of those times. Minato can safely say he knows Kakashi. And who he saw just now isn’t the Kakashi he knows. There aren’t a lot of explanations for why he’s acting like this. It could be leftover trauma from Sakumo’s death but it still doesn’t feel right.

Right now though, there isn’t time to mull it over as he and Jiraiya-sensei sit uncharacteristically serious, at the bench close to Konoha’s main gate.

“Minato,” he says soberly. “Do you remember when I told you about the child of prophecy?”

Minato blinks. He remembered that conversation very clearly. It was right after Minato’s teammates died in battle, and Minato was half-convinced to quit being a ninja. Jiraiya-sensei told him he could be the one responsible for bringing peace in the ninja world, which even now sounds ridiculous. His hands are covered in so much blood he can’t possibly be a good person anymore.

“Yes, sensei. Did something happen?”

“I was called to Mount Myoboku by the Elder Toad. He said the prophecy is null now. There is no longer a child of prophecy.”

“Oh,” Minato’s not quite sure what to do with that revelation. Deep down, he never really believed in the prophecy. Minato isn’t one to put a lot of stock in fate. Reality is what you make of it. It’s a bit ridiculous for one person to be responsible for world peace. But whenever he tried to bring it up with sensei, he would always be placated with assurances that the toad’s prophecies have never been wrong before.

“There’s no child of prophecy because we have a time-traveller in our midst. This time-traveller is going to change the course of the future. The Elder Toad suggested that this time-traveller is right here in Konoha.”

“Time-travel is impossible,” Minato says automatically.

Jiraiya-sensei looks at him dryly. “Really, Minato? Your most famous technique is a dimension-hopping one. You can’t tell me someone in the future didn’t figure out how to mould space-time to travel back in time.”

Minato huffs. Theoretically, time-travel shouldn’t be too far-fetched. But still…

Minato catches up to the last thing Jiraiya-sensei said.

“Wait a minute! You said the time-traveller is in Konoha?”

“The Elder Toad told me to come back to Konoha to find the time-traveller.”

_a sense of humour, arriving late, newly acquired jutsu far beyond his skill level, personality discrepancies, haunted veteran eyes, lack of surprise at new events…_

It shouldn’t be make sense, but it does.

“Jiraiya-sensei. I think I know who the time-traveller is.”

“It’s the kyuubi of course!” A loud, familiar voice says as Minato and Jiraiya-sensei swivel their heads to the source. It’s Kushina, smiling smugly with her hands on her hips.

“How much of that did you hear?” Jiraiya-sensei asks alarmed.

“Pretty much all of it!” Kushina says cheerfully. “If you’re going to discuss super-secret stuff, maybe you should cast a genjutsu so that people don’t eavesdrop, y’know!”

Minato grimaces. In hindsight, it was dumb of them to not do that. Thank god it’s only Kushina. Minato shudders to think what would happen if Danzo got to know there’s a time-traveller in their midst.

“What are you even doing here?” Jiraiya asks suspiciously.

“I was looking for Minato. I could sense your chakra too but I ignored it. I needed to tell Minato something super-important. Now I guess I’ll tell you too! I know the time-traveller you’re talking about! It’s the kyuubi!”

Jiraiya-sensei looks at Kushina like she has a few marbles loose, not far off from the looks people usually give her.

“I doubt the Elder Toad was talking about a chakra monster.”

“Well, he says he’s from the future! He told me so yesterday,” Kushina says, puffing her chest.

Jiraiya-sensei looks at Kushina severely. Minato’s not thrilled about Kushina speaking to the kyuubi either.

“He might be trying to fool you and gain control, Kushina. You shouldn’t be communicating with it in the first place,” Minato tells her.

Kushina looks annoyed. “Not like it was my choice. He just started talking to me about being from a different time! Anyway, it’s too much of a coincidence. A prophecy about a time-traveller and the kyuubi telling me it’s come back in time oh—”

Kushina starts talking, seemingly to herself. “Oh. It isn’t you?” She looks indignant now. “Hey! No need to call me names!”

Jiraiya-sensei and Minato look at Kushina uneasily. A verbal tussle with the Kyuubi seems like a bad idea for several reasons but none of those reasons are likely to sway Kushina.

“What?!” Kushina says, wide-eyed. “That little runt is the time-traveller?! It can’t be. He’s only eight-years-old.”

Minato’s unease curls into a ball in his stomach. He was hoping it isn’t so but there really isn’t any other explanation.

“It’s Kakashi,” Minato says quietly. Both Kushina and Jiraiya-sensei’s swivel to him identically.

“That’s what the kyuubi says too. Kakashi is a time-traveller,” Kushina says.

Jiraiya looks sceptical. “Really? That little brat?”

“You didn’t see him today, sensei. It was like he was a completely different person. He electrocuted me!” Minato says remembering their training session. “He was throwing jutsu I’ve never seen before, easily A-rank, possibly S-rank in their level of damage. He created a lightning clone! Most jounin can’t do that! And no, it isn’t because he's a prodigy. Kakashi’s not a close-combat, heavy ninjutsu type of fighter. He doesn’t have the chakra for anything higher than B-rank jutsu. He’s also learned to layer genjutsu, which he never knew how to do. And at the end of it, I still had the feeling that he was holding back. And then, there were his eyes,” Minato says sadly.

“His eyes?” Jiraiya and Kushina echo.

“They weren’t the eyes of an eight-year-old kid. They were haunted, almost broken. I’ve only ever seen such eyes on war veterans.”

“It isn’t unreasonable for Kakashi to be traumatised, Minato,” Jiraiya starts.

“No! This is different. This is not related to Sakumo’s trauma. I know him. This is on a completely different scale.” Minato clenches his fist. He gets up and looks at Jiraiya.

“Kakashi’s personality has changed too. He’s not as obsessed at winning or the rules as he once was. I don’t know for sure if time-travel is the answer but —”

“It is, Minato,” Kushina tells him sharply. “The kyuubi just told me he was the one to send Kakashi back to the past in the first place. The future is apparently really bad. He said the world almost ended. The next jinchuuriki sent Kakashi back along with the fox,” she says quietly. “And the fox has quite a few words for Kakashi not telling you he is a time-traveller in the first place,” Kushina adds, wincing.

Minato smiles at that. Present or future, that’s one thing about Kakashi he can believe. That kid is too independent for his own good. But then he suddenly remembers what Kushina said.

“The next jinchuuriki?” he says slowly. “Why would there be a next jinchuuriki?”

Kushina smiles sadly. “You know why, Minato.”

Minato actually doesn’t. Any world in which Kushina didn’t exist is unfathomable to him, too ridiculous and too terrible a world to exist. Minato couldn’t —wouldn’t lose Kushina. If that meant he had to put his trust in Kakashi, Minato could do it easily. He would trust anything if it would save Kushina’s life.

“So what, we’re just going to believe the Kyuubi now?!” Jiraiya asks incredulously. “The chakra monster?!”

“Hey now, I bet you’d be a bit bitter too if you were locked up in a cage all your life,” Kushina tells him defensively. “Besides, the Kyuubi has no reason to lie.”

“Well, in any case,” Minato says loudly, interrupting the argument beginning to brew. “Kakashi is our best bet. If he really has travelled back in time, then he’s going to need our help in setting things right. There’s no way I’m going to let any of us,” he says looking Kushina in the eye, “die until we’re all old in front of a warm fire. I know where he is. Let’s go.”

* * *

  


Kakashi is eating a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku’s (Miso, Naruto’s favourite), when he sees three figures come in through the noren. It’s Minato-sensei, Jiraiya, and Kushina. One look at them and it’s obvious; they know.

“Kakashi,” Minato-sensei says gravely. “How far back?”

Kakashi feels a relief so strong that it’s like water to a parched throat. He looks at Minato-sensei, willing him to believe him, willing him to help him, because God knows Kakashi can’t do this by himself. He has never been able to do this by himself.

“Twenty-four years,” Kakashi says plainly. “It’s been twenty-four-years since…”

 _Since I saw you all together and alive and thinking the future was worth living for_ , he doesn’t add. They’re still surrounded by company after all.

Minato-sensei looks sad. He sighs and says, “I think we have a lot of talking to do, Kakashi. C'mon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi beginning to fighting Minato: no hand signs cause sensei might catch on to me
> 
> Kakashi ten minutes into the fight: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A FUCKING LIGHTNING CLONE
> 
> In all seriousness, thank you for the kudos and the comments. I cherish each one of them. Regarding the chapter, I think Kakashi's feelings towards Team Minato are complicated and there are a lot of conflicting emotions and trauma entangled in those memories. Too often, I see Kakashi being easily forgiving of Obito in fics. Considering the depth of betrayal between them, I do think that an interaction with Obito at this point would be a disaster. Obviously the Obito in this fic will be different, and Kakashi will realize that once they get there. 
> 
> Also, they know Kakashi's a time-traveller! Yayy. I got that out of the way. Now it's time for Kakashi to learn that teamwork is a two-way street. 
> 
> As always, I live for comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> EDIT: I just realized I made a pretty crucial error in this chapter. Fixed it!


	4. lost in thought (and lost in time)

_"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."- Oscar Wilde_

Kakashi swings his legs from the comfortable couch inside Minato’s home. Jiraiya looks disgruntled. Minato brings out a tray with mugs of tea. Kakashi sips his tea and closes his eyes, savouring it. _Minato’s right,_ Kushina thinks. _This is completely unlike the brat at all._

Kushina doesn’t know Kakashi very well. She’s met him a few times through Minato, and the most she knows about him is that he’s a tiny, haughty, genius-brat. But even still, there’s something off about him, even to someone who doesn’t know Kakashi like Minato does. His eyes are wise, old; there’s not a hint of petulance or childishness like there usually is. And then there’s the haunted way he looks at them, hungry, like they’re ghosts resurrected from the dead.

“Well, I can see what you meant about his eyes, Minato,” Jiraiya says. Kakashi looks puzzled.

“So, the future sucks huh?” Kushina asks. 

“Kushina!” Minato whines at her indelicacy. Still such a prissy pretty boy.

“Still as blunt as ever, Kushina-san,” Kakashi snorts. “But yes, the future sucks to say the least.”

 _It’s definitely Kakashi-brat. It’s good to see Naruto’s efforts worked,_ the kyuubi rumbles.

 _Naruto…that’s the name of my son?_ It’s an offbeat and weird name; Kushina likes it.

_Yes. He was a lot like you._

Then, images begin to flash through her mind. A blue-eyed, blonde little boy with her face and colouring; a wide, gorgeous smile. She sees him older; he looks a lot more tired and his eyes are dimmer, but his smile is just as lovely. He’s with a boy who looks like Mikoto, a pink-haired kunoichi, and a silver-haired man wearing a mask, Kakashi. There’s no question; the boy is Naruto, her son. The shinobi in her tells her to be wary, that it could be an elaborate genjutsu the kyuubi is casting but there’s something deeper inside her; a raw, gut instinct that tells her this could be no one but her son,

He's beautiful; she loves him already.

“By the way, Kushina-san, Jiraiya-sama,” Kakashi interrupts. “How do the both of you know about me time-travelling? I figured sensei would figure it out eventually but you two….” He trails off.

Kushina, Minato, and Jiraiya look at each other and then back at Kakashi uneasily. They don’t know if Kakashi was aware of her status of her status as a jinchuuriki in the future; it might be risky to reveal it for no reason.

_He knows, Uzumaki. Kakashi-brat knows._

Kushina swallows. This is a risk but….

_Naruto._

“The kyuubi told me. He travelled back in time too,” Kushina says firmly.

“Kushina!” Jiraiya shouts, scandalized.

“I know what I’m doing, Jiraiya!” she shoots back. Or at least, she’ll figure it out along the way.

Kakashi’s already huge eyes widen. “What?! Kurama’s back too?”

“Kurama?” Kushina asks curiously.

 _The brat wasn’t supposed to say my name!_ The kyuubi, or rather, Kurama roars.

“Ahh…Kakashi, he’s kind of pissed you said his name out loud,” Kushina winces.

“The kyuubi has a name?” Jiraiya says dumbfounded.

Kakashi smiles. “Yeah, he does. No one ever really bothered to find out before….” His eyes widen. “If Kurama’s back then….what about Naruto?” Kakashi asks hesitantly.

The kyuubi roars at that, an amalgamation of grief, anger, helplessness and rage coursing through her blood and taking over her mind. Kushina knows this feeling; she’s felt this feeling. It’s etched in her bones, that unthinkable day she learned of her mother, father, cousins, all fallen. Sealed libraries destroyed, golden bridges burned, hurricanes rising out of whirlpools in the aftermath, as if the sea itself grieved the loss of Uzushio.

Kushina spat venom at the Hokage that day, screamed in his face that they sacrificed her to the altar of Konoha while her village burned. _What use is our spiral on your flak jackets if you just let us die?_ she shouted as Asami-sensei, Mikoto, and Tsume held her arms back, afraid she would attack him if they let her go. Kushina still doesn’t think she’ll forgive him for it. The Sandaime had simply looked sad and weary; like he does a lot these days, and she hates it.

“Kushina!” Minato’s voice calls out to her, bringing her back to earth. She realizes she’s gasping, overwhelmed by the kyuubi’s emotions. This grief, this rage, is all for her son, who she now knows, died in the future.

 _I’m sorry_ , Kushina offers. _It doesn’t mean much but I know how you feel._

The kyuubi calms down a bit. The grief is still there, but more muted.

“Kushina, what’s wrong? Is the kyuubi doing something? Is it trying to escape?” Minato asks urgently, his eyebrows knitted with worry.

“No, Minato,” Kushina tells him. “He’s grieving,”

Kakashi who was looking alarmed all this while, looks understanding, and then sombre. 

“Naruto didn’t survive then,” he says sadly. So, Kakashi knew her son as well.

“Will someone please tell me what in the world is happening?” Jiraiya bursts out frustrated. “Also, how do you know the kyuubi’s name kid?” Jiraiya asks suspiciously.

“A lot of things have changed in the future, Jiraiya-sama,” Kakashi replies calmly. “Speaking of which, you need to go check on Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. Hanzo is going to do something bad soon,” he says offhandedly.

Jiraiya pales. Kushina can see him coming to terms with the idea that he’s a time-traveller.

“So it’s true then. You are a time-traveller,” he says grimly.

“Yes. Although trust me, I wasn’t my first choice at all,” Kakashi says rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I don’t know why I was sent back, but as Kushina-san said, the future _really_ sucks. I don’t know how we even start fixing it.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning, Kakashi?” Minato says kindly. Bless his pretty boy heart. He’d really come a long way from the oblivious, somewhat selfish boy from the academy.

“Where do I even begin, sensei?” Kakashi laughs bitterly. “There’s just…so much wrong.”

“You don’t have to relive everything,” Minato reassures him. Kushina can see Jiraiya raising an objection so she kicks his leg to shut him up. “Tell us what you feel comfortable with for now. But..before we start, I need to ask you something,” he says haltingly. “Does Kushina die in the future?”

Kushina feels a warmth bubbling inside her. _Oh Minato._

The grief in Kakashi's eyes is reflected in his face now too. 

“Yes, Kushina dies. So do you. I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry,” he says miserably.

Kushina sucks in a breath at that. Her death, she’d expected. Her son’s death too was tragic and terrible but right now, he was barely a concept in her mind. But beautiful, dangerous Minato dying? That is unacceptable.

“Oh Kakashi,” Minato scoots closer to Kakashi in the couch and hugs him. “We’re ninja. Sometimes death is inevitable. We can’t save everyone. And we can’t be responsible for every death,”

“You shouldn’t have died,” Kakashi says brokenly. “You shouldn’t have. You had so much more to give, both of you,”

Kushina’s heart breaks. She wishes with all her heart she could punch whoever it was that caused so much damage. 

“Alright Kakashi,” Minato says gently. “Why don’t you start from the beginning? I think at least for me, you’ve got the worst stuff out of the way.” Kakashi scoffs bitterly. “Or maybe not,” Minato amends.

Kakashi drinks another sip of his tea. Minato runs a hand up and down his small back soothingly. Kakashi takes a deep breath and tells them.

* * *

It’s surprisingly easy in the end, to tell them. Once it spills out, it doesn’t seem to stop. It’s almost as if he’s been waiting all his life for someone to ask “Will you tell me your story?” and it’s in only this moment that he’s ready to answer. He begins with Team Minato because of course, everything begins with Team Minato. He tells them of the growing chasm between him and Obito, accelerated by Rin’s crush on him. He tells them about the chunin exams, making jounin and of course the Kannabi Bridge Mission.

“Where was I in all this?” Sensei asks distressed. “Why wasn’t I there to protect you?”

“You were slaughtering a thousand Iwa Shinobi, sensei.” He says dryly. And immediately regrets it because he sees Kushina flinch slightly in the background. Kakashi had forgotten about that, for all of Kushina’s bluster and toughness, she genuinely preferred not to kill her enemies. She was a lot like Naruto in that way (Or was Naruto a lot like her?)

“I don’t blame you,” Kakashi says. “Your actions that day helped us win the war. It was bad luck.”

The rest of it is pretty much a shit show. Kakashi tells them about the Ame trio, specifically how the Akatsuki’s original plan for peace was corrupted because of Hanzo and Danzo. Jiraiya gets teary-eyed at that part. Kakashi tells them about Rin’s death, and the kyuubi attack, how Minato and Kushina gave their lives to protect Naruto and the village. Kushina begins to cry, and Minato takes a break to give her a hug. Jiraiya looks pained and strangely guilty when he hears about Orochimaru’s misdeeds. By the time he reaches the time of Fourth Shinobi War, they’ve paled considerably.

“How could the world become like that?” Kushina asks, distressed.

“He said it himself! It’s Madara’s fault, isn’t?” Jiraiya says, glaring.

“It’s not that simple, sensei,” Minato tells him plainly. “There are so many people responsible for this… Madara, Danzo, Obito…. But it’s not just them, it’s the entire shinobi world that has to take responsibility for this,” he says contemplatively.

“Zetsu too,” Kakashi pipes up. “In fact, Zetsu was pretty much the one to start everything.”

“But still, to think Danzo was capable of this. I always knew he was a creep but this is treason excused over and over again. What was Sarutobi-sensei thinking?” Jiraiya wonders.

“He wanted to believe in his friend,” Kakashi muses, “so he turned a blind eye.”

Kakashi can be sympathetic to that to a certain point having dealt with homicidal friends before. But even still, it burns something in Kakashi’s gut that the Sandaime let Danzo get away with treason time and again while good, moral shinobi like his father were sacrificed to the trenches of public opinion. Even Kakashi was willing to kill Obito; god knows he tried his best to finish him off in the war while his own heart was breaking.

_Is that why you sent me back, Naruto? Because you thought I had the apathy necessary to remove all the obstacles to peace? Apathy which you didn’t have?_

“But we definitely need a plan now,” sensei says, stressed out. “These are all shinobi that are impossible to beat.”

Kakashi blinks.

“Wait, you guys just believe everything. Just like that?!” he says incredulously.

“Kid, no one could have just made up a story like that,” Jiraiya tells him. “Besides, you’ve got access to a lot of knowledge that you really shouldn’t even know about in the first place. And Minato told us how you nearly kicked his ass today—” Minato protests in the background. “And the prophecy changing definitely helps too!”

Kakashi narrows his eyes. “Are you talking about the Toad Sage’s prophecy?” He puts two and two together. “Has my presence here changed that?”

Jiraiya laughs. “Of course you know about that! There’s no doubt anymore in my mind, kid. You’re definitely a time-traveller. Yeah, there isn’t a child of prophecy anymore. You’ve kinda changed that.”

Kakashi pales. This isn’t what he was expecting. If Naruto isn’t there to guide the world into peace then what is he supposed to do?

“Hey now! Don’t look like that, kid,” Jiraiya says, guessing his thoughts. “This is a good thing! This means that you’re going to stop all of this” —he waves his hand around—“shit from happening in the first place.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?!” Kakashi shouts. There’s only so much he can fail, only so many world-ending disappointments he can bear; failing at stopping Madara, Obito, Danzo, Hanzo, Orochimaru— this is not one burden he wants to carry.

“You have us,” a familiar hand ruffles his hair. When he looks up, he sees Kushina smiling softly at him. “You don’t have to do this alone anymore, Kakashi. We’ll be there to help you.”

“Kushina’s right,” Minato-sensei says. “There’s no way we’ll let you do this alone. Besides, being Hokage for only six months is a bit disappointing.” He jokes.

Kakashi laughs wetly at that. He looks at Minato and Kushina, and marvels at how Naruto managed to inherit the best of both of them; Minato-sensei’s peaceful ambition and dorky humility, and Kushina’s bone-crushing compassion and indomitable will.

“We’ll need to come up with a plan though,” Minato says, nodding at both Jiraiya and Kushina. “Kakashi, who do you think are the major threats to peace in the ninja world?”

Kakashi doesn’t even need to think about it. “Zetsu, Madara, Obito, Danzo, Hanzo and Orochimaru.” Kakashi can see Jiraiya flinch in the side at the mention of Orochimaru. “To be honest though, I think Obito and Orochimaru can still be saved,” Kakashi says quietly. “They both did the right thing in the end and fought with us to defeat Kaguya. That’s worth something.”

Minato-sensei looks pensive. “Can you guarantee the world on that?”

Kakashi takes a deep breath and wonders.

“Um,” Kushina pipes up. “Kurama says that my son would want to save them, so we should.”

Kakashi laughs.

“Kurama’s right. That is what Naruto would want,” Kakashi says. “I think those two can be saved. The reason they went down the paths they did is as much the fault of outside interference as their own shitty choices. Jiraiya-sama, I think Orochimaru can be saved. He was devastated by your death in the future.”

Kakashi would never like Orochimaru, not after what he did to Tenzo and Sasuke. But his dealings with the man during the Fourth War helped him understand him a little better. Orochimaru was an unconcerned party; he didn’t really care about peace but he didn’t want the world to burn either. He had a skewed sense of morality; he didn’t understand why it was okay to kidnap and experiment on children outside Konoha but not on children belonging to Konoha. He also didn’t understand why Danzo was allowed to orchestrate the massacre of an entire clan and steal their eyes, while Orochimaru’s sensei treated him like a monster.

And from Orochimaru’s perspective, they were all fair points. Kakashi had never thought of it before but Orochimaru was stayed in Konoha longer than either Jiraiya or Tsunade. And Kakashi knows, having watched him grieve in the future, that Orochimaru loved them both in the way he was best capable. He would probably never stop being creepy or unnerving but Orochimaru could possibly be convinced to stay a loyal shinobi of Konoha.

“You can save him, Jiraiya-sama. He’s still a part of Konoha right now so there’s hope,” Kakashi says softly.

Jiraiya gets a far-off look at that. “If Tsunade could come back too… it would be nice if the three of us could get together again.”

Kakashi somehow doubts that. If Naruto was here, that could be possible. But Kakashi isn’t a therapist, he can’t vanish a person’s trauma. He also doesn’t have any resemblance to the princess’ younger brother or a larger than life ambition to become Hokage.

Minato-sensei looks at him. “And what about Obito, Kakashi? What do you want to do about that?”

Kakashi’s already decided his course of action for this one. “The best thing for Obito Uchiha right now is to forget that Kakashi Hatake ever existed,” Kakashi says. “I was a big part of the reason for why he chose the path he did. Sensei, the only way for Obito to be saved, and for me to be strong enough to defeat Madara and Zetsu is to stop being your student and disappear.”

There’s pin drop silence before a cacophony of voices fill the room. Kakashi sighs.

“What do you mean, stop being my student?”

“You can’t take them all alone, y’know!”

“Kid, this isn’t a good idea.”

“Listen to me!” Kakashi raises his voice. “I mean stop being your student in the only way it matters: to the public. So long as I’m on Team Minato, Obito will never stop feeling inferior or bitter. Even if I act like his best friend, that isn’t going to change. What Obito needs right now isn’t me, but someone else who doesn’t carry as much baggage with him.”

“In addition to that, I need to get a lot stronger in a very short amount of time. I can’t do that if I’m on Team Minato. I need to build up my chakra to use my old jutsu. And I need to learn other styles of fighting,” He winces. “I can’t use a lot of my old jutsu since I don’t have the sharingan anymore.”

Minato-sensei still looks unconvinced. That’s right. Kakashi remembers his sensei being convinced that all Kakashi needed was a little interaction with kids from his own peer group to stop being such a tiny ninja robot. 

“Sensei,” Kakashi says softly. “I’m not really eight-years-old anymore.”

Minato-sensei smiles sadly. “That’s right, you’re not. Still, Kakashi. If you’re only around us, it’s going to be very lonely for you. This is a second chance for you too, you know. I know your future was bad but this could be a fresh start.”

Kakashi scoffs at that. Fresh starts were meant for bright smiles and kind hearts; for people with better transgressions, who learned the first time around. They were meant for people who didn’t carry broken legacies and failed promises. They were certainly not meant for people who lived in atonement for mistakes they never stopped making.

“I think the kid’s got a point, Minato,” Jiraiya pipes up, distracting him from his thoughts. “Kakashi’s not going to have a normal childhood again anyway; there’s no point delaying the inevitable. Besides,” he grins. “It’s good to see someone else carry on the legacy of the Hiraishin. I want to see you be able to do it soon, kid.”

Minato-sensei looks proud at that. “I’m glad someone else is carrying Tobirama-sama’s legacy, Kakashi. And I’m doubly glad that it’s you.”

Kakashi blushes at that. To hear Minato-sensei say that about a jutsu he was so famous for made him feel like he was actually eight-years-old again, revelling in his sensei’s praises when he got a jutsu right. The Hiraishin was a tough jutsu to learn, but somehow he felt more at home with it than he ever had with the sharingan.

.

.

.

_“I’m appointing you as the next Hokage, Kakashi,” Tsunade tells him, bleeding out in the ground in front of him._

_“Tsunade-sama,” he stutters impossibly, ready to protest._

_“No, Kakashi,” Tsunade says, smiling at him. She was completely depleted of chakra, her youthful appearance gone, wrinkles clearly visible on her face and arms. “It’s over for me. There’s no one better than you to lead Konoha at this time.”_

_“I don’t! I’m not strong enough, Tsunade-sama. Naruto—,”_

_“—isn’t ready. You know him, Kakashi. Do you think he can lead a country into war, decide who lives and dies?”_

_Kakashi knows for a fact Naruto can’t do that. The guilt would be too much for him to bear. But how is Kakashi supposed to lead Konoha into battle? He doesn’t even have a sharingan; he pales from the other Kage so much that it’s not even funny._

_“Kakashi, you’re not weak,” Tsunade says fiercely, her eyes still blazing with strength even as she lays dying. “You are one of the most intelligent ninja in the world. Without the sharingan draining your chakra, there’s so much you can do. In fact, here’s my last order to you as your former Kage. I want you to learn the Hiraishin.”_

_Kakashi stares at her._

_“What? How can I—”_

_“You can! Who else deserves to use it apart from the fourth Hokage’s student? I’m telling you to use it as the second Hokage’s grandniece! It’s perfectly suited to your abilities, Kakashi! And without the sharingan’s chakra drain, I know you will be able to do it. Promise me you’ll learn it,” she commands._

_And what choice does Kakashi have, with all these people who keep placing undeserving, unending faith in him as they leave him behind? He has no choice but to kneel to his Kage and say “I promise, Hokage-sama.”_

Not long after that, Tsunade died, leaving behind a devastated Sakura, Shizune, and Naruto. Kakashi was never any good at keeping his promises but he always tried his best to honour them. So, he learned the Hiraishin. And as usual, Tsunade was right. It was perfect for him. Hiraishin was precise, deadly; you needed perfect chakra control, complete awareness of where your target point in this plane was, or else the dimensional void you entered could spit you out in the middle of Earth Country, when you were actually just trying to get across the village. Or worse, it could just decide not to spit you out, while you suffocated or starved to death in a pocket dimension.

It took some time, but with Minato-sensei’s notes and his own experience using Kamui, Kakashi managed to figure it out. His chakra reserves were bigger since he wasn’t constantly spamming the sharingan anymore. He perfected it in a month, nothing brings out genius like war. Pretty soon, he managed to do what his old sensei did, taking out thousands of white Zetsu in seconds.

Kakashi is pretty sure he can do it again. Of course, he doesn’t have the chakra of his other self, but he could teleport from one side of the room to the other. But he had to figure out how to increase his chakra reserves exponentially to use Hiraishin effectively, and he had to do it fast.

“Hello! Earth to Kakashi,” Jiraiya snaps him from his own thoughts. “You were pretty lost in there, kid.”

“Jiraiya-sama,” Kakashi starts. “Do you know of a way for a child to increase his chakra reserves in an exponential way in a short amount of time?”

Jiraiya looks surprised, then contemplative. “There is someone who could help you with that, but his methods aren’t very pleasant.”

“Jiraiya-sensei. I really hope you’re not considering—”

“I actually am, Minato. This could be a good thing for both of them. It could actually get rid of a threat, while helping Kakashi get strong as soon as possible.”

“Or it could make an enemy even stronger,” Minato-sensei says darkly. He then looks at Kakashi worriedly. “Kakashi, you’re plenty strong enough already. You don’t have to do this alone. Even if you’re not as strong as your future self, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got all of us.”

Kushina nods vigorously beside him.

That might be true but Kakashi remembers Naruto and Sasuke fighting with the powers bestowed upon them by the Sage of Six Paths, decimating everything in front of them in their fight against Kaguya. He remembers Sakura beside him, wearing an expression of resigned bitterness. Looking at her, he was finally able to identify the feeling inside him _—_ _not good enough_. He had never felt that way about his fighting skills, but that was the first time he realized intelligence and craftiness didn’t do much in the way of fighting gods.

It was a different matter that both Naruto and Sasuke had failed too; they’d seemed to have forgotten in their arrogance that Kaguya was the mother of chakra; she gave humans the ability to use chakra in the first place, just as she could give chakra, she could take it away as well. 

Kakashi doesn’t think he’ll ever be good enough to take on that kind of power but hopefully he won’t need to. If he can somehow get to the level of _not passing out due to chakra exhaustion_ ; well, that would be a good start. He has a pretty low opinion of the rest of himself; he really doesn’t want to feel that way about his fighting skills.

“It’s not about being alone, sensei,” Kakashi murmurs. “It’s about not being a flight risk. You guys won’t be able to do a lot of things without me around. I don’t want to be a liability in such a situation. And there’s a war going on right now so I doubt you can pay too much attention to this right now. I need to get stronger,” he says determined. “And I need to do it as fast as I can.”

Minato looks at Kushina, and they have an entire conversation with just their eyes. Oh right, Kakashi had almost forgotten they could do that.

“Alright, Kakashi. We’ll let you undergo some specialized training on one condition,” Sensei tells him as if he and Kushina are trying out some new parenting technique. “Kushina and I will be there to supervise. We can’t have you be doing anything dangerous.”

“Deal,” Kakashi says, amused and touched at the same time.

“Hey now, you guys have assumed that he’ll even agree. Orochimaru’s still pissed at me for leaving. I don’t know if he’ll even agree to help you,”

Kakashi blinks once, twice to make sure he heard that correctly.

“…I’m sorry but did you just say Orochimaru?”

* * *

Kakashi is taut with tension and trepidation as he looks at the man in front of him with no small amount of dread. They’re in training ground six. Minato and Kushina are there too, not looking very happy either.

“So,” Orochimaru says creepily. “Jiraiya told me of a new prodigy who wanted to increase his chakra reserves and get strong as quickly as possible.”

The thing is, Kakashi knows Orochimaru is his best bet at this. He saw Sasuke’s massive improvement after training with the man for three years. _Training you were unable to give him,_ a voice in his head whispers _._ It’s a different story that Orochimaru put in that much effort with the sole intention of taking Sasuke’s body. If there’s anyone who can make sure he’s ready for Madara, Zetsu or whoever this world decided to throw at him, Orochimaru is the one.

It still doesn’t change the fact that there are warning signs going off in Kakashi’s head; and there’s also a deep sense of guilt scratching at his heart. _What would Tenzo think of you for doing this? Taking help from a man who experimented on him?_

“That’s right,” Kakashi tells him firmly, trying not to second guess himself. “My chakra reserves are too small right now.”

“Obviously, you’re still a child,” Orochimaru says unimpressed. “But why do you want to increase your reserves so much in the first place? What is your goal?”

“Not telling you,” Kakashi says bluntly. If Orochimaru refuses to help him after this, well that’s his call. It might even be a relief actually. Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya are one thing. Orochimaru is way too big of a flight risk to let in on something as dangerous as time-travel. Kakashi’s still not sure whether to think Jiraiya’s come up with world-saving plan or a world-ending one.

Orochimaru blinks. Then he laughs. “You’re interesting, Sakumo-spawn. I like you,” he says, as a chill goes down Kakashi’s spine. He looks at Kakashi with a glint in his eye. “Alright, I agree. There is a way for you to get stronger quickly. I’ve been working on a seal that could help you with just that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kushina nearly took over this chapter for me. She is amazing and incredible and I had to willfully stop myself from writing more of her.
> 
> I've seen a lot of interpretations of Orochimaru as basically amoral, needing Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi to act as moral guides. I kind of like that interpretation while acknowledging that the Orochimaru in the manga is a monster, and that monstrosity enables him to be a great villain. I think there's a possibility for, if not redemption, stopping his eventual descent into committing heinous crimes for immortality. Orochimaru is not nice or good or soft, but one thing he's got going for him is that he's a good teacher. And I'm choosing that as the bouncing pad for where he'll end up eventually. 
> 
> Please post your thoughts in the comments as always. :)


	5. i knew the moment had arrived

_“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.”- Haruki Murakami_

“Alright, I agree,” Orochimaru says. “There is a way for you to get stronger quickly. I’ve been working on a seal that could help you with just that.”

Kakashi has to stop himself from flinching. He knows exactly which seal this is and he would sooner rip off his right arm than have that thing anywhere near him.

Thankfully, he doesn’t need to protest.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Kushina storms up to Orochimaru, Minato-sensei not far behind her. “You’re not using any seal on Kakashi, creep!”

Orochimaru raises an eyebrow at her. “Do you have a problem with seals boosting power, Uzumaki? Why, I would imagine you to be the last person who should have a problem with something like that,” he adds slyly.

Kakashi rolls his eyes. That’s a low blow but then again, so is everything when it comes to Orochimaru.

But it works. Kushina snarls angrily at him. Kakashi recognizes that look. It means someone’s going to get punched.

“Kushina’s seal is different, Orochimaru-san,” Minato-sensei intervenes, perfectly polite and perfectly stony. “Kakashi is a child. And if this is a seal of yours, that means it’s still in the experimental stage. We will not let you use an experimental seal on Kakashi."

Orochmaru looks annoyed now. “Do you doubt my sealing abilities, Namikaze?”

“Minato’s too polite to say it so I will,” Kushina says cheerfully. “I know sealing better than you, snake creep. I can draw seals that can crush forests in my sleep. You might be highly gifted in fuinjutsu,” Kushina continues, ignoring Orochimaru’s scoff. “But I doubt you know how much damage experimental seals can really do. I’ve seen people get blown up because they were trying to create seals for something as simple as drying their hair. So, you aren’t going to apply any seal on Kakashi until I take a look at it first.” 

“I’m one of the best fuinjutsu users in the village,” Orochimaru argues angrily. “I don’t need—”

“But you’re not an Uzumaki,” Kushina interjects calmly. “Besides, do you really want to pass up a chance to study an Uzumaki sealmaster at work?”

 _Well-played_ , Kakashi thinks. Orochimaru is more of a researcher than a fighter anyway. There’s no way he’ll pass up on the chance to get an Uzumaki sealmaster’s opinion on his seal.

And Kakashi is a bit relieved about that. If Kushina takes a look at (what’s probably) the cursed seal, she could modify it to curb some of its more fatal and deadly aftereffects.

Orochimaru looks at her and Minato-sensei for a few minutes and snaps, “Alright, I will allow you to look at my seal. But rest assured, if you interfere more than necessary, I won’t train Sakumo’s spawn or have anything to do with him! Jiraiya’s request or not!”

“Deal!” Kushina says cheerfully. “Let’s see it then.”

Orochimaru narrows his eyes. “We’ll have to go elsewhere if you wish to take a look at it. There are certain… shadows that like to tail me.”

Kakashi straightens at that. _Danzo._ Kakashi had always suspected that wretched old man of driving Orochimaru’s worst impulses in the first place. But he didn’t think it began this early on.

Minato-sensei and Kushina exchange a look. “Fine by us.”

And so, they all walk through the village to Orochimaru’s lab. Unsurprisingly, there are people gawking at them. All of them are notorious for their own reasons.

“So,” Orochimaru asks Minato. “Is Jiraiya back for good this time or will he be off again to be a martyr somewhere?”

Minato-sensei shrugs awkwardly. “Um…I don’t know. I’m hoping he’ll stay but—”

“Of course, he won’t, ” Orochimaru smiles bitterly. “The one time he deigns to show his presence in Konoha after abandoning it to go play wanderer, it’s to request a favour from me. And I, the idiot that I am, even agreed to it.”

Kakashi looks at Orochimaru curiously. The pieces are falling together clearly now. Orochimaru left alone in a village that distrusts and fears him, a sensei too busy to give him attention, his two teammates off running from their responsibilities, and a stunted genius mind that didn’t understand the concept of ethics unless it was pointed out to him. And looking at Orochimaru’s face, it’s clear that Jiraiya probably wasn’t as delicate as he should have been, even with the knowledge of what Orochimaru could become in the future. Kakashi sighs. _Yeah, this is a recipe for disaster._

“I know what you mean, Orochimaru-sama,” Minato-sensei says dryly. “Jiraiya-sensei can be irresponsible a lot.”

When they reach Orochimaru’s lab, there’s a surprise guest waiting for them.

“Jiraiya,” Orochimaru says surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Jiraiya looks conflicted and guilty. “Oh, you guys are all here too. This is great,” he says sarcastically at them. Then, he sighs and looks seriously at Orochimaru. “I need to go to Ame right away. There’s trouble brewing there with Hanzo.”

Orochimaru just looks bitter. “Of course you do, Jiraiya. You always simply have to be there when trouble is brewing. God forbid there’s a war going on; it will of course take a back seat to some random children in Ame.”

“That’s not—” Jiraiya looks frustrated, then he sighs. “No, you’re right. I haven’t been here as much as I should have been. Neither has Tsunade. Out of all three of us, you’ve always been the most responsible one, Orochimaru,” Jiraiya smiles. He then steps forward and places a hand on Orochimaru’s shoulder. “This will be the last time, I promise. I really would have stayed longer this time but…Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan need my help.”

Orochimaru looks surprised. So do Minato-sensei and Kushina.

“Alright, you idiot. Go!” Orochimaru snaps. “It wouldn’t be you if it you weren’t trying to be a martyr in some way.”

Jiraiya grins brightly. “I’ll be back soon, Orochimaru!” He turns to them and says “And you three better not get into too much trouble while I’m gone!”

“We should say that to you, sensei,” Minato-sense says, looking vaguely harassed.

And then he shunshins away. They head inside Orochimaru’s lab.

Orochimaru looks a bit more placated. Kakashi smiles, pleased. When he thought of making changes that could save the world, he’d imagined stealthy assassinations and grandiose fights. It might not be as flashy as ninjutsu but something as small as healthy communication could actually save lives. Who would have thought it? It’s not something he’s ever considered before but, if Orochimaru feels alone and unacknowledged as an adult, what could Obito be feeling right now?

Orochimaru’s lab looks surprisingly normal. There’s mostly just a lot of paper and what smells like burnt chakra. _Ah._ This means Orochimaru’s test subject is primarily himself. He hasn’t yet gotten around to experimenting on other people.

“The seal is still in an experimental stage,” Orochimaru says. “I haven’t gotten around to testing it on myself yet.”

Kushina looks alarmed. “You’re not supposed to be testing it on yourself, y’know!”

Orochimaru swats at her like she’s an annoying fly. He places a palm on one of the drawers as a seal appears. He transmits his own chakra through it as the drawer unlocks. “It’s quite alright. I’ve been doing it since I was a child. Now, the seal—"

They don’t have time to ruminate over the idea that Orochimaru has apparently been experimenting on himself since he was a child because he produces a scroll and opens it up. The scroll reveals what looks to be a preliminary version of the cursed seal of heaven. Kushina and Minato-sensei immediately descend upon it like a pack of wolves who’ve found prey. Orochimaru goes and stands in a corner. Since Kakashi doesn’t have much to do, he joins him.

“Not that I care either way but aren’t you a little young to be here?” Orochimaru asks Kakashi, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll be fine,” Kakashi says. “I need to know what this seal is like if it’s going to go on me anyway.”

“Why do you even want to get stronger so quickly? You’re a prodigy, aren’t you?” Orochimaru asks curiously.

“It’s because I’m a prodigy that I’ll get sent out to war. Me knowing a thousand jutsu won’t help if I don’t have the chakra to sustain it,” Kakashi says, half-truthfully.

Orochimaru looks at him thoughtfully.

“That’s true but the Hatake clan specializes in kenjutsu, doesn't it?” Orochimaru says. “Your father was famous in battle for his kenjutsu. And it isn’t as if the Hatake clan’s chakra levels are that low. You could easily become a powerful ninja without needing to use a lot of chakra.”

 _Just powerful isn’t enough. I was powerful in my previous life and I couldn’t save anyone._ Kakashi thinks.

“I don’t use kenjutsu to fight,” he says. The last time he'd even used a sword was in ANBU, and even then it was mostly for assassination. “The last time I practiced my kenjutsu katas was years ago.”

Orochimaru’s reaction to that is surprising. Kakashi can see the expressions on his face goes through stages of shock, annoyance, and finally resignation.

“A Hatake not learning how to use a sword is like an Uchiha without a sharingan or an Uzumaki without sealing,” Orochimaru says, longsuffering. "Do not be an idiot, child. Since there’s no one else in this village who knows how to wield a sword properly, it’s up to me. I suppose I’ll have to teach you kenjutsu,” he sighs.

Kakashi blinks, dumbfounded. _Did Orochimaru just make me his student? Without me even asking?_

“Um…okay,” Kakashi says, because what can he even say to that? The most he expected from Orochimaru was a seal. But kenjutsu lessons too? Like most things, Kakashi treats this development with healthy suspicion. This could either be very good or very bad.

Then, Kushina speaks up bluntly, “This seal is fucked up.”

“Kushina, a little tact please!” Minato-sensei hisses.

“Excuse me?” Orochimaru says chillingly.

“I’ll admit this seal would probably increase chakra levels and stamina, but that’s only if the person this is used on survives! It’s highly corrosive. This could end up destroying a person's chakra system! How on earth did you think you could use this on Kakashi?” Kushina asks angrily.

“I told you I haven’t tested it yet,” Orochimaru shoots back. “I would have tested it on myself first and only then—”

“That’s not how sealing works, Orochimaru-san,” Kushina says, frustrated. Then, she takes a deep breath.

“Have you ever wondered, Orochimaru-san, why Uzumaki seals can never be replicated? Why despite every ninja village trying their best to, no one could ever replicate our fuinjutsu?” she asks calmly.

Orochimaru is silent.

“It’s because fuinjutsu isn’t a jutsu that can be performed by just anyone. It depends on the user’s chakra and intention. Uzumaki fuinjutsu can only be performed by an Uzumaki. If anyone else tries to replicate our sealing, they will be unsuccessful, because their chakra is incompatible with our seals.”

“This is the case for most seals. A seal developed by one shinobi is only compatible with that shinobi or that shinobi’s clan. But that’s not all, fuinjutsu also depends upon intent. Fuinjutsu is possibly the only jutsu form that is based entirely upon the will of the person who created the seal. If the caster wishes to kill, it will kill. If the caster wishes to protect, it will protect.”

“This seal here might be compatible with you if you apply it on yourself, but it certainly won’t be the case if you apply it on someone else. Fuinjutsu is a difficult art, and only those who understand the balance between opposing natures can master it. You designed this seal primarily to gain power; that was the only intention behind it, which is why it’s so corrosive. But you didn’t consider how to balance that power with an opposing force. This opposing force must be present in the seal to keep the rush of power in check. Otherwise, it will completely overwhelm the user.” Kushina finishes.

Kakashi stares at her. That honestly explains so much. The few times Kakashi had tried to dabble into fuinjutsu had been a complete and utter disaster. But that was because he wasn’t creating his own seals; he was trying and failing to replicate Minato-sensei’s fuinjutsu.

Orochimaru looks at Kushina peculiarly. It’s like the expression a scientist gets when he has finally discovered the one element in his hypothesis that was out of place, allowing everything else to make sense.

“That makes a lot of sense. No wonder some of my other seals weren’t working. I didn’t know that dualism was such an important feature of sealing. Why didn’t Jiraiya ever tell me this?” Orochimaru mutters, annoyed.

“Jiraiya-sama’s seals aren’t exactly complete.” Minato-sensei says. “You can make a passable seal without needing to balance the forces in the seal. But for extremely dangerous ones like this one, it’s really important. I used to make the same mistake before Kushina showed me where I was going wrong,” Minato says fondly, looking at Kushina.

“We could help you out, y’know,” Kushina adds. “This seal isn’t a total disaster. We could still use it to boost chakra,”

“That would be…highly appreciated,” Orochimaru says quietly.

Minato-sensei and Kushina smile tentatively at Orochimaru. _He’s so different,_ Kakashi thinks. _Not-yet-evil Orochimaru is so strange._

“That’s great then!” Kakashi interjects. “Thank you for all your help, Orochimaru-sama. We’ll see you later then.”

“Come to Training Ground 6 tomorrow, brat. Bring whatever blade you have with you,” Orochimaru says dismissively. “And you two better come here tomorrow as well. I have many, many questions to ask both of you.”

Kakashi smiles, feeling tentatively hopeful for the first time in a long while.

* * *

“Again,” Orochimaru barks.

Kakashi gets up panting, his knees shaking and heart racing. He’s just gotten his ass kicked in yet another sword-fighting session with Orochimaru. He’s not sure what is bruised more, his pride or his body. It’s been one week since he began training with Orochimaru, and he’s still getting his ass kicked. Even if he’s in an eight-year-old body, it shouldn’t be this easy for Orochimaru to trounce him in kenjutsu. (It’s a different matter that he never picked up a sword after breaking his father’s tanto.)

So he charges again with his father’s tanto, trying to accommodate his smaller body. A tanto is the perfect weapon for close combat, being short and sharp enough to fight in tandem with taijutsu. It was one of the reasons his father gained the reputation he did as the White Fang. He used the tanto as a literal extension of his own limbs, short and sharp movements of taijutsu to tire his opponent before striking in one final white light. The white flash of the chakra sabre paired with his father’s snarling fangs was a terrifying last sight for many enemies. 

Unfortunately, Kakashi is not his father. Sakumo Hatake was talented enough to be able to force the most long-range jutsu users into close-combat. He can’t quite replicate that success when he isn’t able to even get close enough to Orochimaru to strike.

Which is how he ends up on his ass again.

Kakashi’s disappointment must be obvious because Orochimaru laughs at him.

“You’re not seriously angry at me for winning, spawn. You do know I’m one of the sannin right?” Orochimaru asks incredulously.

“If I could use ninjutsu,” Kakashi counters furiously. _Or even if I had enough chakra for Hiraishin._

“You would still lose,” Orochimaru says. “Though I admit that I might have to exert effort in that fight, which is quite shameful since you are a literal eight-year old. I don’t understand why you actually expect to win in a fight with an opponent much bigger, stronger, and with more than twenty years of experience than you.” He says curiously.

 _It still shouldn’t have been that easy,_ a voice in his head retorts. It’s even more humiliating considering Orochimaru isn’t even using a sword to fight him back. Kakashi has the feeling that if he was actually eight, he’d be reacting the same way, but for different reasons. This disappointment is more at himself (when is it not?) than anyone else.

He might have spent most of his previous life running away from his legacy but that doesn’t mean it’s not a part of him. The Hatake clan were originally a clan of samurai after all and kenjutsu is built into their blood. Sword-fighting is as much a part of Kakashi as his silver hair; there was once a time when he held his father’s tanto with reverent hands, imagining himself fighting with it, emanating the same white light when he swung it at his enemies.

That was a long time ago.

“You’re going to be better than me at sword-fighting someday,” Orochimaru says. “I’m good but a sword is merely a weapon for me. You are a Hatake; it might as well be another limb to you.”

Kakashi looks at him surprised. There have been quite a few moments like this in their few weeks of training where Orochimaru surprised him like this. And well, it freaks him out a little. There’s still a part of him that expects Orochimaru to be no less than utterly terrifying. He still remembers that feeling of bone-chilling terror when he faced off Orochimaru as a young ANBU, a killing intent so thick he could barely even move.

But, like many things, Kakashi’s expectations are changing a lot nowadays.

“Your father’s tanto,” Orochimaru starts casually. “You’re not comfortable with it, are you?”

Kakashi flinches.

“It’s not an indictment on you,” Orochimaru continues blithely. “The white light chakra sabre is a great weapon, made even greater by a great master. But think of blades like chakra. A person with an earth affinity will find it a lot harder to learn lightning jutsu than a person who has lightning affinity. Similarly, I am not suited for medical ninjutsu like my teammate Tsunade is. But there are many other things I can do. But just as your ninjutsu depends on your chakra affinity, your mastery of swords depends on what blade you have. And that blade,” Orochimaru says pointing to the tanto, “is not meant for you.”

Kakashi blinks and looks at Orochimaru’s stern face. He’s starting to get an idea of just how Anko became so dangerous.

Kakashi looks at the tanto. It’s one of the last mementos of his father, of his clan. He destroyed it in his last life, but he was hoping just a little bit that he could use it to its full potential this time, maybe try to accept his legacy rather than run away from it.

“Think about it,” Orochimaru says. “You don’t have to give me an answer now. Your family’s legacy isn’t limited to one blade, brat. Kenjutsu is a vast discipline. You can honour your father without using the same blade.”

Kakashi nods. “Thank you. I’ll think about it,”

“Well, that should be all today,” Orochimaru says. “If I keep you here any longer, Namikaze will be on my neck like the mother hen he is.”

Kakashi snorts at that, amused. The Yellow Flash, personally responsible for the deaths of more than a thousand shinobi in the third war as a mother hen made too much sense.

Kakashi then remembers that there’s something he needs to ask him.

“How’s the seal coming along?” He asks hesitantly. Orochimaru’s face darkens. _Crap._

“Why not ask Namikaze and Uzumaki? They’ll tell you how it’s coming along. ” Orochimaru says, more than a little viciously.

Kakashi winces. 

“They might act like idiots sometimes,” Kakashi says carefully. "but there’s no one better to ask about seals than those two. Minato-sensei is very knowledgeable about sealing. Kushina-san is even better. She taught Minato-sensei."

“They aren’t complete dunces,” Orochimaru says, which is probably his way of paying a compliment. “It will probably need another six months to be fully functional, which is just as well. You could work on bringing your chakra levels up by then. But I’ll warn you, it probably won’t work the wonders you’re thinking about. Uzumaki’s intervention has made the seal more adaptable to the human body, but as a result of that, many of its previous functions such as increased chakra and stamina might be compromised.”

Kakashi nods, considering the point. That may be true but if there’s anyone who could fix that seal to become something that he could work with, it’s Minato-sensei and Kushina. Minato-sensei reverse-engineered the Hiraishin after all, and Kushina's seals were a force of nature. In the previous war, she lay entire battalions to waste by changing the topography of the landscape using fuinjutsu. There was one especially scary story of how she lay a seal on the earth in the middle of a battle and induced an earthquake. Kakashi has no doubt that the two of them would be able to fix it. And if they can’t, well, Kakashi just has to find another way to get stronger.

“If that is all spawn, you may go. I expect you here at 7 am tomorrow,” Orochimaru says. “And think about what I said regarding the blade you wish to wield. That tanto isn’t doing you any good.”

“I will. Thank you, Orochimaru-san,” Kakashi says sincerely. And he means it.

Kakashi leaves the training ground and heads to Minato-sensei’s home. He’s been staying there ever since they figured out he’s travelled back in time. Strangely enough, there are quite a few people who come and go inside the house. The war hasn’t quite reached fever pitch yet so Minato-sensei isn’t away as much as Kakashi thought he would be. Kakashi’s taken to suggesting Hiraishin’s various purposes to Minato-sensei. This Minato-sensei hasn’t quite figured out how to travel to multiple locations on the same plane with the Hiraishin. Kakashi can’t do that yet, lacking the chakra and control in this body to teleport to multiple places in a second. But he can tell Minato-sensei the theory of it. This technique that would win Konoha the third shinobi war in the other timeline. Hopefully, Minato-sensei can get a kick-start on that here and the war won’t drag on as long as it did before. 

When Minato-sensei opens the door, he’s in his apron. _Ah._ He’s getting dinner ready. Kakashi doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to this again. In his previous lifetime, dinners at the Namikaze house were regular. Team Minato spent so many post-mission evenings at the Namikaze house, eating delicious cooking. More often than not, since Minato-sensei was the one who went with them on missions, it was Kushina’s foo that they got to eat. Her cooking was just as delicious as well.

Kakashi sprawls over the couch, tired after a long day of training. His eight-year-old stamina could really use some work.

“So how did training with Orochimaru go?” Minato-sensei asks him, putting dinner on the dining table.

“It’s not bad,” Kakashi says honestly. “Orochimaru is a pretty good teacher. He thinks father’s tanto isn’t suited to my fighting style though. He said I should try another sword.”

“Oh?” Minato-sensei says, walking over to him. “And what do you think of that?”

“I think he might be right,” Kakashi admits. “Father’s tanto is legendary but…”

“But it’s not yours,” Minato-sensei finishes. He smiles warmly at Kakashi. “I think it’s a good idea, Kakashi. You honestly do have a knack for kenjutsu, but just not with your father’s tanto.”

Kakashi nods, relieved that someone else agrees.

“Ah!” Minato-sensei suddenly looks alarmed. He’s looking at a seal on his arm. It’s glowing.

“What’s that?” Kakashi asks, worried.

“It means Kushina is in trouble,” sensei says seriously. “I’ll be right back, Kakashi. You stay here,”

“I’m coming with you,” Kakashi says, getting up.

“No, Kakashi. It’s too dangerous for you. You’re going to stay right here,” Minato-sensei says sternly.

Kakashi knows Minato-sensei is stubborn. He knows that this is an argument that can go around in circles, and if it comes to head, Minato-sensei will use a strong genjutsu to knock Kakashi out. But even so, Kakashi is nothing but tenacious.

“Alright,” Kakashi says folding his arms.

But then, just as Minato-sensei makes the hand-sign for the Hiraishin jutsu, ready to transport himself to wherever Kushina is, Kakashi grabs hold of his leg as tight as he can. In the fraction of a second before they’re teleported, Kakashi catches a furious expression on Minato-sensei’s face. Oh well.

And then, they’re in the cemetery.

Minato-sensei doesn’t have the time to yell at him because in front of them are Orochimaru and Kushina, fighting desperately to hold off an unhinged Danzo.

Kakashi hisses. He didn’t expect Danzo to make his move this early.

“So the entire cavalry is here. How unexpected, Orochimaru, that you seem to have allies.”

Orochimaru swings the sword of Kusanagi at Danzo, twisting and turning as Danzo masterfully dodges each attack.

“You could have been much greater than this, Orochimaru. Instead you’ve chosen to ally with the weak Uzumaki,” Danzo taunts.

Kushina doesn’t react. She goes through a set of hand seals and summons two water dragons. Danzo kicks Orochimaru away from him. He blows a giant gust of wind from his mouth to keep the water away, but Kushina simply adds more volume to the water with her chakra. It engulfs Danzo completely but in the end, he’s still standing as he's coughing out water angrily. Minato-sensei sees an opening and immediately runs towards him with a rasengan, but Danzo once again dodges and hurls air needles at Minato-sensei.

Danzo also has to contend with Orochimaru. Kakashi hurls through some hand signs and immediately goes underground. Once he feels Danzo’s chakra, his small hands immediately burrow out of the ground and grab hold of Danzo’s ankles, still covered in water. He channels his lightning chakra in its most corrosive and crude form and electrocutes Danzo. Danzo screams. Before Kakashi can rejoice though, Danzo pulls him out of the ground and kicks him in the stomach with a chakra-enhanced kick, slamming him against a tree.

He feels his ribs breaking and his internal organs shattering. He sees Minato-sensei and Kushina look murderous. He tries to stand but immediately plops down instead. Whatever Danzo did along with his kick also fucked up his chakra system. His eyes feel droopy and he’s too delirious to stay awake. The last thing he sees before blacking out is the sight of Kushina, her sealing chains hurling at light speed towards Danzo.

* * *

When Kakashi wakes, he’s in a hospital bed. The third Hokage, Orochimaru, Minato-sensei, and Kushina-san are standing in various corners of the room, everyone except the Hokage looking battered and pensive. Minato-sensei huddles close to his bedside when he notices him awake.

“What happened?” Kakashi asks, wincing. His ribs still hurt.

“I’m glad to see you awake, Kakashi,” The third Hokage tells him calmly. “You were very brave today. Reckless, but brave,” he qualifies.

Kakashi snorts. Reckless but brave might as well be his tagline.

“Danzo has been delving into things that are quite frankly not his business,” The third Hokage says sternly. “I’ve known for a while now that his idea for Konoha vastly differs from mine. I still didn’t expect him to attack you outright, Orochimaru. I’m glad you had Minato and Kushina with you.”

Orochimaru still looks enraged. “I told you several times, sensei, that he isn’t to be trusted! He nearly _murdered a child_ today!”

“You’re right, Orochimaru. I’m sorry,” he says penitently. “Still, he won’t be a problem anymore.” He looks at Kushina. “I’m grateful to you, Kushina, for doing what I couldn’t.”

Kushina blushes and murmurs a thank-you.

Kakashi registers that last part in his head. “Wait,” he says, as Minato-sensei helps him sit up. “Is Danzo dead?”

The third Hokage nods grimly. “Yes, Kakashi. He won’t be troubling anyone anymore. Thanks to all of you.”

So Kushina’s chakra chains must have taken him out. Kakashi heaves out a giant sigh of relief. That’s one giant problem solved. Without Danzo, maybe, just maybe, the Uchiha massacre can be averted.

“Minato and Orochimaru told me about your exploits in the battle, Kakashi,” the third Hokage continues. “Sneaking up on a ninja of Danzo’s calibre him is an incredible feat for one as young as you. You are a very gifted ninja.”

Kakashi ducks his head in acknowledgement and thanks. On the inside though, he can feel his insecurity burn. To think that one kick was enough to take him out. He was lucky he had three kage-level ninja with him.

“Minato and Orochimaru came to me with a request. And although I initially had reservations, I’m considering it after today. You could become a very powerful ninja, Kakashi, provided you receive the right training. This business with Danzo has only proven to me that Konoha has to face internal threats along with external ones. And you will be part of the next generation that must deal with those threats in the future. I wouldn’t normally do this but I think the position Konoha is in right now necessitates it,” The Hokage says gravely.

“How would you like to enter an apprenticeship, Kakashi? You will be trained by Orochimaru and Minato. Minato will take a genin team soon, and although I believe you have benefitted under his training, it wouldn’t do anyone any favours to continue on in the same team while you’re already a chunin-level ninja. You will of course be given higher level missions that suit your skill level rather than repeat the process of D-rank missions on a genin team.”

Kakashi’s heart starts to race. This sounds almost too good to be true. But then…

“Orochimaru-san, are you okay taking me as an apprentice?”

“Of course, brat,” Orochimaru says, annoyed. “You show a lot of promise. And I won’t have you squander your potential by being stagnated for three years on a genin team with children.”

The Hokage looks amused. Kushina mumbles something along the lines of “He’s a child too.”

“What about Minato-sensei?” Kakashi asks, still uncertain. “Will he have the time to train me?”

“Of course I will, Kakashi,” Minato-sensei says surprised. “You’ll always be my student.”

“And when he gets too busy, I can always fill in, y’know!” Kushina says, beaming at him.

Kakashi looks at all of them, wondering why they were willing to do so much for him. But it’s about time he learns to accept his blessings rather than questioning them. Why the Hokage is being so acquiescing is obvious; Konoha is at war and they don’t have enough fodder to send to the front lines. The idea of him becoming an elite jounin or ANBU level ninja in a few years probably outweighed protecting his childhood. But in this instance, it’s a blessing. There are so many things he could do, so many things he could prevent happening like this.

Kakashi nods. “I accept, Hokage-sama. I promise to be a worthy apprentice to Orochimaru-sensei and Minato-sensei.”

Orochimaru lets out a strangled sound at that. “Do you have to call me that?”

Kakashi simply raises an eyebrow. Everyone else bursts out laughing.

* * *

“Well, what do you have there?” Orochimaru asks. They’re in training ground 6. He’s been officially discharged and it’s time to start his first day of training under Orochimaru. Orochimaru doesn’t look pleased, but there’s a glint in his eye that wasn’t there previously.

Kakashi lifts the kodachi. For the first time in nearly two lifetimes, he visited the Hatake clan estate the previous day. It wasn’t as terrible as he’d expected it to be. The grief was still there, omnipresent that it was. But it was now a dull, longing pain rather than an angry, riotous grief. He still didn’t want to linger inside too much though and headed straight to the reason he was there: the armoury.

There were all sorts of swords there, each one belonging to a different ancestor. He’d grown up with legends of how the swords were wielded. He ran his hands down the katana of Akari Hatake, legend had it that she won a kenjutsu battle against Tobirama Senju using this blade. When Kakashi was small in his other life, these stories seemed like the stuff of myths, too fantastical to be true. But he now knew better. He’d seen ninjas calling upon the Shinigami and fought the goddess of chakra himself. Still though, holding these blades and recalling those stories was reviving something inside him that he didn’t even know was dead.

When Kakashi picked up the next blade in the armoury, his breath caught. It fit in his hands like it was forged for him. But Kakashi knew it wasn’t. This kodachi belonged to Chinami Hatake. He knew this story very well. It was his favourite bedtime story. He vaguely remembered sitting on his father’s knee, listening awed to his father’s voice telling him of Chinami’s exploits, feeling the rumble of his deep voice against his back. As Chinami’s reputation as a ninja grew, so did her enemies.

One day, an enemy nation abducted Chinami’s beloved mother. Chinami was so enraged that she broke open the sky with her kodachi and called forth the god of lightning himself. The king of the enemy nation was so frightened by the display that he released her mother. Apparently now that entire landscape, now located to the east of Kumogakure is completely barren. It hasn’t seen a thunderstorm since that battle. It’s the only area in the land of lightning that's guaranteed to never see a thunderstorm.

Kakashi remembered listening to that story as a child and wondering if he could ever be strong enough to match that. But as he held the kodachi in his hand, he knew his goals now were much different. He wondered if he could ever be as brave as his ancestor Chinami, to protect the people he loved by drawing strength from loyalty and heartbreak.

He's not sure but he’d like to find out. And this kodachi seems like a pretty good place to start. It fits perfectly in his hands. When he channels his chakra through it, the sword hums with power. 

So Kakashi smiles at Orochimaru and lifts the kodachi. “This is going to be my sword, sensei.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's some bullshit chakra theory and more Kakashi. Orochimaru finally makes an appearance. And the timeline is officially changing!
> 
> As always, I live for your comments. If you guys want to chat with me about this fic or Naruto in general please hit me up on my tumblr @thedreamermusing.
> 
> Oh! And if you notice any grammatical or spelling errors, please let me know. I don't have a beta.


	6. i knew the waiting had begun

_“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.”- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice_

“Try activating the seal. It should work as intended now,” Minato-sensei says anxiously, taking his arm off his shoulder. They’re in Orochimaru’s lab. Kushina and Orochimaru are hovering close to him. Kushina looks calm, her eyes brimming with confidence. Orochimaru looks calm too, but Kakashi can detect a hint of trepidation in him.

Kakashi runs his fingers over the seal on his upper arm, right where his ANBU tattoo used to be. It’s shaped like a diamond with grid boxes inside, looking remarkably like his clan symbol.

Kakashi takes a deep breath and focuses his chakra on the seal. He can feel a rush of chakra down his body, but not in a way that feels overwhelming. _Time to test it out._ He waits for his palm to hum the echo of one-thousand birds as he gathers lightning in his hand. Just as he feels his chakra depleting a little bit to focus on the jutsu, there’s another rush of chakra to replenish it. He isn’t feeling the least bit tired. _It’s working._ He vanishes the Chidori. Kakashi knows it won’t be enough for something as chakra intensive as say, Kamui, if he still had it. But it could help him use Hiraishin and other high calibre lightning jutsu more effectively. To his surprise, even after he deactivates the seal, he can still feel his charka thrumming with energy. It feels alive, like the pull and push of waves against the shore.

Kakashi smiles at the shocked faces of Kushina, Minato-sensei, and a slightly disgruntled Orochimaru.

“It worked. This seal is definitely going to help me out a lot. Thank you for creating it,” he says sincerely.

“What the hell was that?” Kushina asks bluntly.

“Ahh…just the result of what would happen if you tried and failed to apply lightning nature to a Rasengan,” Kakashi says nonchalantly.

Orochimaru snorts and mutters something that sounds like " _irresponsible brat_ " under his breath. Minato-sensei’s eyes are shining with excitement; he gets that look whenever he’s going to be nerdy about something.

“Anyway, on to the seal,” Orochimaru says impatiently, before Minato-sensei can inundate him with questions. “This seal’s power doesn’t come from any extraneous source. The potency and rush of chakra is entirely dependent on your potential, brat. So, don’t assume this seal to simply supply chakra to you when you need it to. The amount of chakra that it is able to unleash when you need it depends on how much chakra you have in your body already, how strong you are, and how strong you are likely to become in the future. Also, once your body has reached its maximum potential, the seal will disappear. It’s not like Jiraiya’s sage mode whose strength is derived from another place.”

Kakashi nods. That’s….honestly for the best. In his previous life, Kakashi had made himself believe the sharingan enabled him to become much stronger than he otherwise would be, but to his surprise, he was a far more efficient ninja once the sharingan disappeared with Obito and he was forced to learn the Hiraishin. It’s a relief that this seal would draw out his own latent potential rather than draw power from another source. Maybe there is a chance here that he can forge his own path.

“Since you just got the seal, take it easy with training for the next two weeks,” Minato-sensei says sternly.

“Sure, sensei,” Kakashi has zero intention of doing so.

“How is training going anyway?” Kushina asks mischievously. “Be careful, Kakashi. You wouldn’t want to end up as nerdy as these two,” she winks at him teasingly.

Orochimaru hisses at her, annoyed. Six months ago, Kushina would have bared her teeth right back at him. But there’s something about developing a high-risk, experimental seal together that bonds people together for life, Kakashi thinks. Minato-sensei and Kushina’s guards around Orochimaru seemed to have dropped completely. They’ve been getting weird looks from all the villagers too, every time they dare to spend time together in a public place.

“It’s going well, Kushina-san. I’m learning a lot from Minato-sensei and Orochimaru-sensei.” And it’s true, he has. He’s improved by leaps and bounds in the last six months. He’s built up his chakra reserves with several handy and honestly ingenious chakra exercises Orochimaru gave him. He’s gotten used to using the kodachi too, unconsciously shifting into kenjutsu katas where he struggled before. He’s also started experimenting a little bit with using his sword as a conduit for lightning. Orochimaru observed him thoughtfully the first time he used lightning release with the kodachi, and immediately declared that his sword needed reforging if he planned to channel his chakra through it. Orochimaru’s mind seems to be an endless encyclopedia for new jutsu. And he knows just the kind of jutsu that suits Kakashi.

Minato-sensei hasn’t neglected his training either. They’ve been discovering the Hiraishin and all its possible uses together. His chakra reserves have built up to the point that he is now able to teleport from one end of the village to the other end. And now, he’s developed to the point that both Kushina and Orochimaru think he’s ready to take on their seal. So, all in all, Kakashi feels hopeful. 

“The brat learns quickly,” Orochimaru acknowledges grudgingly over the background noise of Minato-sensei whining at Kushina to stop teasing him. “Almost too quickly. If I didn’t know you were a prodigy already, I’d be suspicious,” he says dryly.

“Well, thank goodness I’m a prodigy,” Kakashi says dryly.

There were many moments in his previous life when Kakashi had cursed his reputation and status as a prodigy. In hindsight, it had led people to place trust in him that hadn’t been deserved. But in this new life, being labelled a prodigy was a very convenient way to explain his learning curve and unusual maturity.

They bid adieu to Orochimaru and head back to Minato-sensei’s home. Orochimaru would have come with them but Jiraiya is supposed to arrive soon, and they need to talk about whatever team baggage they’re still holding onto. Still, it’s nice with just the three of them too, him, Minato-sensei, and Kushina. Kushina has all but moved inside Minato-sensei’s place. They spent most of the nights when most of them are in the village playing card games in front of the kotetsu, eating takeout from Ichiraku and laughing at one of Kushina’s latest pranks. It’s nice; Kakashi had similar nights in his previous life but he hopes he’s allowed to actually keep it this time.

“Let me know if the seal starts acting up,” Minato-sensei tells him brightly. “If there’s anything wrong with _the Super Diamond Snap Grid Seal of Light and Darkness._ I’ll fix it right away!”

Kakashi snorts. Kushina’s eyebrow twitches.

“Minato! We’re not calling it that! It’s a stupid name!”

“No, it’s not! It’s got style!”

“Aargh! What kind of name _is Super Diamond Snap Grid Seal of Light and Darkness_?! It sounds like something a Hyuuga or Uchiha would name their cat!”

“You’re just jealous that Orochimaru-san liked my name better than your boring one!”

“I still can’t believe he agreed to name it that! You damn nerds are all the same.”

“It could be worse,” Kakashi interjects dryly. “Remember what he initially called the Rasengan?”

“Oh yeah! What was it? _Super Howl Dancing Flash Spiral of Wind_ ,” Kushina snickers.

“If Minato-sensei were anybody else, he would be dead by the time he finished naming his attack in a battle.”

“Both of you are ganging up on me. Whyyy?” Minato-sensei whines.

“Oh man, Kakashi, I can’t believe anyone thinks this guy is cool,” Kushina laughs. “I wonder how long it will take for your students to discover that you’re actually a dork, pretty boy.”

Oh right. It has been a week now since Minato-sensei was put in charge of Team Minato. Kakashi was secretly discharged from his apprenticeship under Minato-sensei about three months ago. Kakashi’s replacement on Team Minato should be surprising but somehow not; it’s Gai, a fact that relieves Kakashi immensely. Gai is just as talented as Kakashi, but with the added bonus of not being a dick about it. There is no way any person could hate Gai. In fact, every person who knows Gai lives a more enriching life for it. And Kakashi has no doubt that his rival will succeed in Team Minato where he failed.

When they finally reach Minato-sensei’s house, they head inside to freshen up. When Kushina and Kakashi come out, Minato-sensei is already in the kitchen, getting dinner ready in his usual pink apron. Kushina looks on at him fondly.

Surprisingly enough, Minato-sensei and Kushina are in the village more often than not. From what he remembers of the war in his previous life, this is around the time that Kumogakure also joined the War when previously it was only between Iwa and Konoha. But Kumo still shows no signs of entering the war. And surprisingly enough, the skirmishes around the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire have decreased considerably, which diminished the number of shinobi being deployed. The war is still inevitable; that much was set in stone the day Sakumo Hatake abandoned his mission but the sudden decline in skirmishes correlated to only one other thing: Danzo’s death. It’s really depressing to think about the number of plots that old man put his hand in, Kakashi thinks, as he takes a bite of his pork.

“Hello?” There’s a hand waving in front of his face. “Earth to Kakashi?” Kushina says.

“You’ve got that angsty-I’m-from-the-future look again, kiddo,” she says sympathetically. “Minato was asking you something.”

“Oh right, sorry sensei. You were saying,”

Minato-sensei gives him a knowing look and sighs in a way that says _“I know you’re being angsty but I’m going to ignore it for now because you’re impossible.”_

“I was saying Obito’s taijutsu could use some work. Some Uchiha style taijutsu would suit him best since he’s an Uchiha but I’m unfortunately not on very good terms with any of them,” Minato-sensei says sheepishly. “Also, Rin’s medical ninjutsu is quite remarkable. Those two are….quite tied at the hip. They work well together as a team, but I can tell that they’re not really making as much of an effort with Gai as they should.”

Kakashi bites his lip and considers it. Obito and Rin had known each other since they were five years old, ever since that first day in the academy when lonely, insecure Obito had forgotten his academy papers and Rin had collected it for him in her usual kind, gentle way. Then, Obito had fallen head-over-heels in love with her and Rin obviously cared for him a great degree too, what with him being her first friend.

But three-man teams were formed for a reason. Kakashi knows that he didn’t aid Team Minato’s teamwork in any way before, but he has to wonder if Obito and Rin’s constant, perpetual bond looming like a spectre didn’t doom them all in some way.

Even if Kakashi isn’t on their team this time around, it wouldn’t do to replicate the same team dynamics. Obito needed more; his main support system can’t just be Rin again. Even if Kakashi prevents Rin from becoming a Jinchuuriki, they are all still shinobi, liable to die at any given time. And if Rin dies in battle like so many shinobi do, there still won’t be anything preventing Obito from calling this world a lie and losing himself in his grief.

And while Kakashi isn’t on their team now, he certainly doesn’t want Gai to face the dysfunction of Team Minato. And the only way to do that is to turn their dysfunctional dynamic into something resembling a team. Otherwise, well, they’d be repeating a tragedy.

“I think what Obito needs more than anything is for someone to believe in him, sensei,” Kakashi says seriously. “Right now, the only one who believes in him is Rin. He still hasn’t developed his sharingan and while me not being on the team has probably helped, I’m sure he still has an inferiority complex. I know Gai; he’s a person whom no one can hate. He makes you want to get better. If you could encourage push Obito to train with Gai more, it would probably help the team dynamic.”

“As for Rin, you might try making her hold Obito accountable a little bit more. She kind of goes easy on him a lot. As for her training, I think genjutsu and offensive medical jutsu is the way to go. Chakra scalpels, medical seals and the like. She might look gentle but she has a very strong will,” Kakashi concludes. Had she not died, Rin could have become a truly fearsome kunoichi if she had gotten the time and the right kind of training. She was someone who could withstand genjutsu torture for hours. She was also someone who jumped in front of his Chidori without a thought about her own life. There was no doubt about it; beneath the veneer of gentleness was a spine of steel. And Kakashi wonders if the Obito of his world ever saw that steel in her.

Obito had remade Rin so thoroughly in his image, cast a genjutsu in the name of a sweet, helpless victim that he’d either forgotten or never knew the real Rin; the imperfect Rin who was as susceptible as any other girl to fall for a pretty face with a wounded heart, the Rin who loved her village a bit too much and herself a bit too little, the Rin who deserved so much more than the legacy of a broken boy and a ruined world.

“Medical seals huh?” Kushina says thoughtfully, interrupting his musings. “Tsunade-sama knows more about medical seals than anyone else in the world but I’m sure I could find out something from my notes for this Rin girl.”

“Thank you, Kushina. That would help out a lot,” Minato-sensei tells her gratefully.

Kushina smiles at him lovingly. Kakashi decides to interrupt this sickeningly sweet scene.

“So sensei, how is your springtime of youth going as Gai’s teacher?” he asks teasingly.

Minato-sensei pales and puts his head in his hands as Kushina laughs aloud. Kakashi feels a smile form involuntarily. His heart feels big and bright in his chest, like it’s finally feeling warm sunshine and bright red happiness after a lifetime of hiding away in the dark. 

* * *

The training ground comes into view after what seems like forever. His devil of a sensei is sitting on a tree stump. Obito has no idea how Minato-sensei manages to smile in a way that can charm forest animals while also being terrifying at the same time. Rin is huffing and puffing next to him. Gai, on the other hand, is beaming the same 1000 watt smile he did when they started running. He doesn’t look winded at all. Obito can’t even be angry about that because he’s seen Gai train until his calluses bleed.

“So, how was your run? I went pretty easy on you by making you do only ten laps around the village,” Minato-sensei says, still smiling.

“Yosh! It was brilliant, sensei! It’s a great warm-up exercise,” Gai says with annoying sincerity.

_Warm-up? Beast-face thinks running ten laps is a warm-up?_

“That’s great. Now, I’d like you to show off some of your skills against each other. Gai and Rin, one on one fight. Use any jutsu you want.”

Obito’s hackles rise at that. “That’s not fair, sensei! You know Rin’s still tired; Gai eats these laps around the village for breakfast!”

“Oh really?” Minato-sensei says placidly. “Is that the excuse Rin is supposed to give in an actual battle? That she’s too tired to fight?”

“Of course not but _—_ _"_

“Obito, Minato-sensei’s right,” she says calmly. “I can handle this.”

Obito deflates. If Rin herself is okay with it….

What follows is a pretty one-sided battle honestly, much to Obito’s anger and discomfort. Rin’s idea is pretty solid; she is counting on Gai’s lack of knowledge of genjutsu to trap him before Gai even gets close to her for a hit. So she tries casting the demonic illusion genjutsu, but she didn’t account for the fact that while Gai isn’t great at casting genjutsu, he apparently has no trouble breaking out of one. The rest is pretty quick; Rin isn’t able to keep up with Gai’s speed and goes down.

“Do you think Rin is weak, Obito?” Minato-sensei asks him as they watch Gai help Rin up.

“What?! Of course, I don’t! Rin is amazing! She’s the best person I know!” Obito says passionately.

 _“_ Rin is a ninja, Obito,” Minato-sensei tells him softly. “And as ninja, we often have to fight people stronger than us. She wouldn’t have chosen this profession if she wasn’t prepared for it.”

“I know all that! I just…I just want to protect her, that’s all,” Obito says, deflating. Rin is the kindest person he knows, the only one to ever believe in him. Obito knows they’re at war, and he knows the worst-case scenario in a war. But thinking about Rin in such a situation just curdles his insides; it’s too painful to consider.

“You know I have a girlfriend right, Obito?” Minato-sensei asks him contemplatively.

Obito snorts. It is more likely for someone in Konoha to not know of Minato Namikaze’s adoring love for Kushina Uzumaki than the other way around. Heck, the first time Minato-sensei introduced himself to them he said _“My name is Minato Namikaze. I love my girlfriend Kushina’s red hair and learning new fuinjutsu with her help. I have two goals: to stay by Kushina’s side forever and become Hokage.”_

Obito Uchiha has met Kushina Uzumaki once before, and even that one time is enough for him to realize that she is completely and utterly terrifying. No wonder she gets along so well with Mikoto-san. But, Minato-sensei doesn’t seem to think she is scary at all. His face softened to a sickeningly loving smile when she showed up that first day when they all met for the first time with a picnic basket. He’d complimented her undeniably mediocre cooking skills and Obito, Rin, and Gai tried to choke down some truly terrible rice balls to not offend their new sensei.

It’s obvious that Minato-sensei thinks Kushina-san is the entire world and stars, more important than anything else, even more important than Konoha. And that’s honestly surprising, to find out his sensei is a dorky sap like that. Obito knows what kind of fearsome reputation he has. He is the Yellow Flash, the greatest prodigy Konoha has seen since the Sannin.

(Well, there probably is another prodigy who might take up that mantle, but that’s totally different! And Obito’s going to beat that jerk anyway! He’s going to become Hokage someday and make that smug idiot acknowledge him!)

Still though, looking at Rin, Obito can understand why Minato-sensei would choose Kushina-san over Konoha. There’s not even a choice for him if it comes down to choosing between Konoha and Rin.

“Kushina is an extremely powerful kunoichi, you know,” Minato-sensei continues casually. “She’s got a lot more chakra and is better at sealing than I am. But when we were in the academy together, she wasn’t the best student. She couldn’t even do a clone jutsu. She was deadlast, everyone used to make fun of her. Does that sound familiar at all to you, Obito?” Minato-sensei asks teasingly.

Obito huffs. Okay, so Kushina-san was a loser once. And she went from loser to badass, apparently. She’s still scary though. How the heck is it possible for her hair to stand up like that?

“One time, I decided I couldn’t stand to see them bully Kushina anymore and scared the bullies away before they could hurt her. I thought I’d done a good thing but Kushina wasn’t happy about that at all. In fact, she was mad at me for months. She thought I felt like she couldn’t handle herself, that by trying to protect her I believed she was weak,” Minato-sensei says fondly, probably remembering his old academy days.

Obito nods. He’d made sure Rin never got to see the actual bullying he faced in the academy although she had a pretty good idea. But if Rin did see it and came to his rescue like that _…._ just the thought of it is humiliating.

“So, how do you think Rin feels whenever you try to intervene in her fights?” Minato-sensei asks him knowingly, as if he just read Obito’s thoughts.

Obito’s head swivels up at that. He hasn’t ever bothered to think about it that way. Obito looks at Rin contemplatively. She’s talking to Gai; looking disappointed but also determined, and all of a sudden, Obito feels ashamed.

“People need to be given the chance to fight their own battles sometimes, Obito. That’s the only way we grow as ninja. And remember,” Minato-sensei says, bonking his head slightly. “That this is a three-man squad. It’s not just you and Rin anymore. You do a disservice to Gai if you think of him as a threat to Rin.”

Obito shuffles at his feet. “You’re right, sensei. I’m sorry.”

Minato-sensei smiles. “Good. Now, let’s go break down that fight, shall we?”

Minato-sensei calls Rin and Gai towards him. They all huddle in a circle, discussing where Rin and Gai went wrong, the latter more so out of politeness than anything else.

“By the way Gai, when did you learn to break out of genjutsu? I never knew you could do that!” Rin tells him, astonished.

“Why, my eternal rival taught it to me. He said there was no way the academy would let me graduate if I couldn’t even break out of a basic genjutsu,” Gai says sheepishly.

“Kakashi-kun taught you! No wonder!” Rin perks up, her eyes shining and face blushing.

Gai nods vigorously. “My eternal rival is truly amazing!”

Obito scowls. Great. It isn’t enough that Rin has a thing for Kakashi; it’s obvious Gai _adores_ Kakashi despite all his bluster about rivalry.

But speaking of Kakashi….

“Hey sensei, what is Bakakashi up to anyway?” Obito asks curiously. “Isn’t he your student too?” 

“Why yes, Kakashi was my apprentice. Now that I’m formally taking a genin team, the Hokage decided it would be best to relocate him to other areas,” Minato-sensei says blithely.

“Well…that’s great and all but I haven’t seen Bakakashi in the village much lately. Is he okay?” Obito asks, not in the least bit worried.

Minato looks at him, amused. “It’s interesting that you know where Kakashi hangs around in the village, Obito. But don’t worry. He’s in fine hands. You might not be able to spot him in the village as much though because he’s very busy.”

“That’s not _—_ I’m not worried at all about that jerk! I was just wondering because—because I wanted to know if he was training right! I’m going to beat him after all! He can’t make it too easy for me by slacking off!”

Obito just…likes to check up on the jerk once in a while; it’s become a habit by now. It started way back in the academy when everything seemed to come so easy to Kakashi while Obito had to struggle and fail to even hit a shuriken right. He wanted to know Kakashi’s secret, so he started following him around. And the habit just stayed, even after Kakashi graduated. And Obito will probably chop off his own tongue before admitting it but, there’s something inspiring about watching Kakashi train from dawn to late evening trying to better himself. It’s reassuring to know that even someone as brilliant as him needed to work hard.

And Obito will never, even under the threat of death, ever say this out loud but it is kind of disappointing that he won’t get to see Kakashi around the village as much.

“Not to worry, Obito!” Gai tells him, suddenly somehow two inches in front of his face. “I saw my eternal rival just the day before yesterday! He is as strong and cool as ever!”

“Alright now, let’s get back to training,” Minato-sensei interrupts seriously. “Rin, although your strategy was good, the demonic illusion genjutsu you used wasn’t strong enough. I’m going to teach you another, stronger sensory genjutsu….”

Obito’s mind trails off. He doesn’t really know why but when Gai said that he saw Kakashi the day before yesterday, his chest began to hurt, like it weighed too much in his chest. Why? It’s probably because Gai got a chance to fight Kakashi after becoming a genin before he did. Yeah, that’s probably it. He’ll just have to challenge that jerk for a fight the next time he sees him.

* * *

The Hokage office has always been a thing of wonder, Jiraiya thinks, as he looks at the portraits of past Hokages. Somehow each portrait captures the traits that Hokage was best known for; Hashirama’s bright, confident gaze speaks of vision and hope; Tobirama’s serious, stern gaze speaks of callous practicality, and the most surprising of all, Sarutobi-sensei’s lively, youthful gaze speaks of legacy, a determination to see Hashirama and Tobirama’s vision through.

Jiraiya can’t quite recognize the man in the portrait with the tired, somewhat-defeated man in front of him now. And considering the slightly contemptuous look in Orochimaru’s eye, he can’t recognize him either.

“Where will your students be staying while they’re in Konoha, Jiraiya?”

“Ahh…they’ll be staying with me in my apartment. We hadn’t planned on staying long anyway,” Jiraiya says.

It has been good, travelling the last six months with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. Jiraiya is so grateful that he’d managed to get them out of Ame in time. Those kids, despite having gone through so much during war, are incredibly naïve. They had no idea a civil war was brewing in Ame, between those loyal to Hanzo and those loyal to Akatsuki, with none of them the wiser. He's glad he could get them out in time; they were about to meet Hanzo in the trap that Kakashi warned him about. It was too dangerous for them to stay there for the moment. Even if Jiraiya could take Hanzo out, which he still isn’t sure he can do, it would inflame the war even further if he did. The other nations would see it as an act of aggression, installing a puppet government of their own to gain control over Amegakure.

Jiraiya can admit that Sarutobi-sensei probably sees it that way. He doesn’t care a whit about Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, their worth lies entirely in how they can be influenced towards Konoha.

(Jiraiya will be dead and buried in the ground before they ever get that hat on him.)

“That’s wonderful, Jiraiya. They should get to see the sights of Konoha, see what it has to offer,” sensei says agreeably.

“Just get to the point, sensei,” Orochimaru hisses at him, “What have you called us here for?”

Sarutobi-sensei gives up all pretence of friendliness at that.

“I asked you both here to embark on a very serious mission,” Sarutobi-sensei starts.

“I refuse to drag Tsunade back. She won’t come back to the village, sensei. I’m not going to force her to,” Orochimaru interrupts bluntly.

Sarutobi-sensei’s face crumples slightly at that. Tsunade’s departure has been hard on all of them but it’s especially hard on sensei knowing that Tobirama Senju’s niece left Konoha. They would bring her back soon though. There’s no future godson to rely on for that (and that was a big enough mindfuck by itself), so they had to think of another way to do it.

“It’s not that,” Sarutobi-sensei sighs. “Recent developments in the war, or rather revelations about the war have recently come to light. I allowed Danzo’s hand to overreach far too much, it seems. And I underestimated the depths he was willing to plunge Konoha into.”

“I don’t think I ever told you this but when the initial skirmishes broke out between Konoha and Iwagakure, it took us all aback. Onoki was far more inclined to peace after the second shinobi war, possibly fearing the wrath of the Uchiha due to lingering trauma from facing Madara Uchiha. Konoha had also stepped up its infiltration after the end of the second shinobi war; I deployed ninja in every village across the lands. They were supposed to give us information of even the slightest hint of dissatisfaction, so that we could quell any clamors to rest. But that didn’t happen,” Sarutobi-sensei sighs.

“We never saw the excuse Iwagakure used for the war coming at all. It was supposed to be a delicate mission for Sakumo, to quell a rebellion against the Daimyo in the Land of Birds, a vassal territory to the Land of Earth. With the success of the mission, we were hoping to coerce the Daimyo to be more favourable to the Land of Fire. Sakumo was supposed to deal with the rebels while his teammates went to guard the Daimyo. As you all know, a group of Iwagakure shinobi intercepted Sakumo’s teammates, Sakumo saved his teammates at the expense of the mission, as a result of which Iwagakure declared the war. But this mission was perfectly vetted; we had proof directly within the Iwagakure Hokage Counsel that they were unaware of the plan. And then, it even escalated to a conflict with Sunagakure. All this leads me to conclude that there’s only person responsible for this.”

“Danzo,” Orochimaru hisses out. “It was him. That old man orchestrated conflicts to start an all-out war. Your tolerance of him has led Konoha into a war, sensei,” he says bluntly.

“It has,” Sarutobi-sensei admits. “I was careless and put old bonds between us above Konoha’s best interests. It has recently come to my understanding that Danzo disguised some of his own Root shinobi as enemy shinobi to precipitate the war. He did it first with Iwa, and then with Suna, but was unable to trigger a war with the other nations since he died before that could happen. Six months ago, after his death, the skirmishes decreased. It even looked like the war would end early, but unfortunately, in the past week, the skirmishes have started again, this time even escalating between Kumo and Kirigakure. I believe it’s the work of Danzo’s Root. I had hoped they could be reintegrated into the shinobi forces after Danzo’s death but it’s obvious that they have decided to carry on Danzo’s mission regardless. This is where you come in.”

There are so many things Jiraiya wants to say in response, like “ _Why did you let Sakumo take the blame for the war?”, “Why didn’t you take out Danzo sooner when you knew he was a traitor?”,_ or _“Why didn’t you do something about Root after his death?”_. But he still has some respect left for his old sensei. So he’s not going to say it. Orochimaru doesn’t have such compunctions.

“You’ll have us clean up your mess, sensei?” Orochimaru says silkily. “That is fine, but how do we know you won’t throw us to the wolves like you did Sakumo Hatake? After all, I warned you about Danzo and Root as soon as he tried to recruit me. You did nothing about it.”

Jiraiya looks at Orochimaru sadly. To think he was going through all that, while he was off outside Konoha _—_ he can easily see how Orochimaru became what he did in Kakashi’s future.

Sarutobi-sensei closes his eyes, pained.

“You won’t need to worry about that, Orochimaru. I have no stake in this apart from ending the war. I plan to retire as soon as the war ends. And the end of the war is entirely dependent on how your mission goes.”

* * *

_Konoha is bright_ , Konan thinks. The sun is a ubiquitous presence in the sky. Where there are tall, looming, arched buildings in Ame, there are short, crowded thatched roofs in Konoha. Where the sky is dark and cloudy at home, it’s clear and sunny here. Konan can see how Konoha produced a person like Jiraiya-sensei.

Jiraiya-sensei left them here in this ramen shop, telling them to enjoy a bowl of Konoha’s best ramen while he spoke to the Hokage. Nagato is wearing contact lenses to hide his rinnegan. Both Yahiko and Nagato seem relaxed here; Yahiko’s eating his ramen with gumption as Nagato looks around the ramen shop in quiet wonder. Konan’s stomach is still twisting and turning from nervousness though. While she trusts Jiraiya-sensei, Konan still hasn’t forgotten Konoha’s role in ravaging their homeland, and from what she knows, Kages tend to be completely ruthless.

“Hey, Teuchi-san! I hope you’re ready for me to beat my old ramen-eating record! I’ve even brought a witness to mark today in history!” a cheerful redheaded woman calls out as she enters the ramen restaurant. There’s a small, silver-haired boy beside her whose face is almost entirely covered in a mask.

“Miso ramen right, Kushina-san? Coming right up! I’ll get to that after I finish making ramen bowls for Jiraiya-sama’s guests,” the man behind the counter says agreeably.

The two visitors’ attention is on them, after hearing that. For a moment, the silver-haired boy looks shocked and surprised at their presence before schooling his expression to a more neutral one. Quite impressive for one so young, but she keeps his reaction in the back of her mind anyway. There’s no real reason for him to look that shocked since they’ve never met before.

The red-haired woman, apparently called Kushina, has her attention set entirely on Nagato though. She looks surprised and hopeful. Konan’s eyes narrow. Yahiko also shifts to a more attack-friendly position on the stool.

“Are you an Uzumaki?” the woman asks him breathlessly.

There’s a flash of pain in Nagato’s eyes at that; he’s probably remembering his parents. He looks at the woman’s long, flowing red hair and there’s something like longing in his eyes.

“I am. Or at least my parents were,” Nagato says self-consciously.

The woman laughs loudly. “Oh my stars, I never thought I would find survivors, but now I have! Oh, let me introduce myself. My name is Kushina Uzumaki. Jiraiya is a good friend of mine! I think you might be my cousin!”

Nagato hesitates. Yahiko speaks up, his eyes narrowed. “No offense, miss, but we don’t really want to talk before Jiraiya-sensei gets here. We’re foreign shinobi, you see,” he says, pointing to his Ame Hitai-ate.

“Jiraiya-sensei?” The woman repeats, confused. “Are you three Jiraiya’s students? From Ame?” She asks slowly. The three of them nod nervously. Konan has never stood before an active volcano in danger of erupting, but she imagines it to be something like what she’s feeling now. The silver-haired boy is inching away from the woman slowly.

“That pervert never told me he was teaching an Uzumaki! Ohhh…just wait until I get my hands on him!”

“Oh hey, the whole gang is here,” Said-pervert says, entering the shop with Orochimaru.

“Oh Jiraiya-sama~” the woman says, smiling menacingly. “I think you and I need to have a talk.”

Jiraiya-sensei starts sweating. Konan does not feel sorry for him. If this woman indeed is family to Nagato, Jiraya-sensei had no business keeping that knowledge to himself.

Orochimaru rolls his eyes. “You can kill Jiraiya later, Uzumaki. He has to be fit to travel in two days. Kakashi,” he says, looking at the silver-haired boy. “Go home and pack enough clothing and supplies to last a year. I will give you a list of things later today. Make sure to buy all of them.”

The boy’s eyes narrow. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going on a trip, kiddos!” Jiraiya-sensei tells them, a plastic smile on his face. “A whole year away from Konoha travelling across the shinobi nations. A road trip with Orochimaru, me, and you four kids,” he says, eye twitching. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

For about a minute, there’s pin drop silence. They can vaguely hear a sparrow’s call in the distance. 

“What the fuck.” The silver-haired boy accurately summarizes what everyone is thinking.

 _What the fuck indeed_ , Konan thinks. _Sensei better have a good explanation for this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter kind of ran away from me as I was writing it. And I kind of had to revise my initial plans for the story for it to all make sense. But on the plus side, Obito's here! And Konan! And there's going to be a road trip! Woohoo!
> 
> In all seriousness, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the reaction this fic has gotten. To be put in a collection, get so many kudos and reviews, it's truly inspired me to write. Thank you all so much. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy this fic. :)
> 
> EDIT: A little bit of dialogue has been removed since it created a glaring plothole i hadn't noticed before. Thank you for catching it!


	7. i was staring straight (into the shining sun)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi goes on a roadtrip with the Akatsuki and two of the Sannin. Along the way, he learns and unlearns some things. TW: Violence. TW: Death.

_Wherever you go, go with all your heart- Confucious_

“Well then,” Jiraiya says, clapping his hands eagerly as they set up camp for the night. They’re at the Land of Fire border, just one ferry ride away from entering Land of Water territory. Their first assignment is to take care of Root shinobi who could be instigating conflicts in the Land of Water. “We’re all going to be travelling for a while. So we should all be on the same page with each other. Let’s start with introductions.”

The Akatsuki members look at each other, a conversation passing in a glance, just like his Team 7 used to do. They look at Orochimaru with burning suspicion but regard Kakashi with nothing more than passing curiosity.

“I’m Yahiko,” the orange-haired Pein says sullenly.

“Nagato,” says the red-haired _actual_ Pein phlegmatically.

“Konan,” says the purple-haired kunoichi, more friendly than the others.

Kakashi nods. “My name is Kakashi,” He knows of them of course, Naruto told him all about them after he deconverted Pein out of his villainhood. But the only one he can identify a face to a name is the orange-haired one, who wasn’t Pein but one of Pein’s bodies. The red-haired one is the actual Pein; he used the orange-haired one’s body to kill Jiraiya and him.

Kakashi is, in his view, understandably freaked out about this. He’s going on a year-long trip with the man who killed him. Between the Akatsuki and Orochimaru, Kakashi is convinced this is going to be a villain rehabilitation program more than anything else. And Kakashi is a bad choice for this. His experience with Itachi, Sasuke, and Obito will attest to the fact that Kakashi is not a good person to have life-changing conversations with.

But, new beginnings and all that.

Orochimaru nods approvingly, as if the only thing worth of note to remember about them is their names. Come to think of it, even that probably isn’t important to Orochimaru. “Good. And I’m Orochimaru. Now that that’s set, we can retire for the night.”

The orange-haired Pein, _Yahiko,_ nods at Kakashi politely before turning to Orochimaru.

“We know who you are. You wanted to kill us, when you first met us back in Ame,” he says pointedly.

Kakashi winces. This trip is already off to a great start.

Orochimaru simply considers Yahiko placidly. “And? Do you want an apology? I’m sorry to say you’re not getting one.”

Jiraiya has his head in his hands muttering something about _“How are we going to last a whole year like this? Sarutobi-sensei, are you trying to kill me?”_

“How are we supposed to trust you for a whole year then? You might just decide to kill us again as mercy,” Yahiko replies with a sarcastic inflection around “mercy”.

“I cannot tell you that my opinions have changed since we last met. If there is one thing true in this world, it is that the strong survive and the weak perish,” Orochimaru says unapologetically. “What I saw that day were three street urchins in a war-torn country. I thought I was doing you a kindness, thinking a painless death was better than the dozens of other terrible scenarios children like you face. Needless to say, Jiraiya saw something in you that I didn’t. I still have no idea whether he was right to do so. I won’t apologize for what I said, but I can promise that as long as we are travelling together, I will protect you to the best of my ability.”

The Akatsuki still don’t look satisfied with that answer. Kakashi can understand their skepticism, but he is kind of leaning towards Orochimaru’s side here. There were a few times, particularly during his ANBU career where he had killed innocent people, one of the more unsavoury parts of the job. He thought he was doing them a kindness. But those people certainly hadn’t seen it that way, their faces the same plastic mask of fear. All he ended up doing was taking away their choice to live. They had lives; they had stories, and Kakashi had ended it, because he was a ninja and that was his mission.

As the days go by, Kakashi can easily see how Orochimaru became what he did. What did morals, ethics, peace, honour even mean in the world of ninja?

Still though, the Akatsuki are more level-headed than he expected. The kunoichi, Konan nods at Orochimaru. “We look forward to proving you wrong. We are Akatsuki. We will become strong enough to take Ame back from war.”

Orochimaru tilts his head. “We’ll see.”

The conversation ends after that, the tension still thick in the air. The three of them wish Kakashi good night, unfailingly polite, before retiring for the night in their tent. Jiraiya is whispering at Orochimaru furiously, probably lambasting him for his bluntness.

Kakashi just wonders whether the Sandaime has all his wits about him, remembering what Jiraiya had said. _“The Sandaime is sending us all out on a diplomatic mission of sorts. Root has been acting up, stirring up conflicts to carry out Danzo’s will and stretch the war. He wants Orochimaru and I to get rid of these threats. Ideally, you kids shouldn’t be a part of it. But this could be a good chance for the Akatsuki to build alliances with other nations, build up their muscle as diplomatic giants. ”_

_“And why am I going?” Kakashi had asked._

_"You’re Orochimaru’s apprentice after all! Believe it or not kid, he refused to come without you. You really wormed your way into his scaly, stone heart.”_

Ergo the only reason he’s even here is because Orochimaru doesn’t want to deal with the awkwardness of travelling with Jiraiya and three children he thought would be better off dead years before. Kakashi can see the logic of sending Orochimaru and Jiraiya to deal with Root. Along with dealing with the minor skirmishes, it would also send a message. Sending two of the Sannin out to the frontlines is no joke, and that might deter them from attacking Konoha head on. Plus, their mission has a diplomatic angle to it with Akatsuki here; it’s a chance for Akatsuki to build alliances and help smooth over relations. 

No matter how juvenile it appears, the mission is a crucial one. He’ll just have to bite his tongue. Nagato isn’t Pein yet. And now that Jiraiya averted the circumstances that led him to become Pein in the first place, it would be unfair of him to hold him responsible for crimes he hasn’t committed yet.

Kakashi kicks his feet against the log anxiously. A whole year away from Konoha, away from Minato-sensei and Kushina will be hard, but then he remembers Kushina’s gift. He reaches into the backpack and takes out the red notebook Kushina sent gave him. It has a gold Uzushio spiral on the front and is completely embossed with invisible seals, apparently an Uzushio speciality. Minato-sensei and Kushina also have a notebook just like it. He opens the notebook to the first message.

_How are you doing, shortstuff? I’d better see a reply to this, y’know! You better be eating right. Between you and Orochimaru, I don’t have a lot of hopes for either of you eating regular meals, but hopefully my cousin will knock some sense into you! If you hadn’t decided to ~~abandon us~~ go on this trip, you could have been right here at home enjoying my delicious okonomiyaki. :P – Kushina._

_How is everything going, Kakashi? I know sensei and Orochimaru might be…a lot to handle, but know that you can always come to us alright? I did that trick you suggested of scattering my Hiraishin kunai on the field, and it was mind-blowing! I can be at so many places at once! I wish I could show it to you – Minato._

Kakashi smiles. He takes the pen Kushina gave him; it’s filled with chakra-infused ink. And then he writes the message that will immediately show up in Minato-sensei and Kushina’s book. Thank heaven that Uzushiogakure was a village of pacifists; they could have easily taken over the Land of Fire if they wanted to with their prowess. It’s no wonder that they were feared so much.

_Dear Minato-sensei and Kushina-san,_

_I’m alright. We should reach Water Country tomorrow. Nothing much happened today, so I don’t have much to tell you._

_Yours_

_Kakashi_

* * *

They reach the island where the supposed clash between Root and Kirigakure is due to take place the next day. There’s supposed to be a small village on the island. So, they decide to check it out and do some reconnaissance. There’s something about the entire place that feels unsettling and menacing to Kakashi, so he’s on his toes the whole time. To his slight relief, the rest of his new team look alert and suspicious as well.

His suspicions are proved right, in the worst possible way, when they can see plumes of smoke before even entering the village. When they enter the village, they find a battlefield; no, not a battlefield, but a massacre. There’s rubble where buildings once stood. Several huts are broken and toppled. One of the huts is set ablaze. Kakashi wastes no time in putting the fire out with a water release jutsu. When they go inside, blocking their nose against the smell of charred flesh, it’s far too late. There are two bodies on the floor, possibly stabbed before they were trapped in the fire.

“What the fuck happened here?!” Yahiko asks, his face set in a snarl. Konan and Nagato look devastated by the scene.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya are grim. “It seems as if this village is under attack.”

Just then, they hear a voice outside. “The freak is there, shinobi-san! We’ve cornered them for you!”

They rush outside to see people screaming; some of them carrying pitchforks. There are Kirigakure ANBU with them. A woman is at the centre of it all, looking absolutely terrified. In a fit of desperation, she makes a hand sign and hurls ice shards at them _._

 _Ice-release._ _Yuki Clan. Ah._

“Monster!” One of the villagers hiss.

That explains it. They’d unwittingly walked right into the middle of a bloodline purge.

“Shinra tensei!” Kakashi sees Nagato extend his palm towards the crowd and repels them away completely. The villagers end up crashing into the dirt, while the Kiri ANBU are hurled further away.

Orochimaru puts an arm on his shoulder. “We will go deal with the black ops members. You protect the girl.” And then Orochimaru and Jiraiya head toward where the ANBU are lying face first in the dirt. 

Konan bends toward the woman, who still looks terrified. Yahiko speaks to her in soothing, calm tones. “We aren’t here to hurt you. We promise.”

The woman is crying. “Please. I’ve never used my ice to hurt anyone. I really haven’t.”

“We know,” Yahiko says quietly. “We won’t do anything to hurt you,”

Nagato looks frustrated and angry. His eyes are hidden by his bangs, so his rinnegan isn’t visible yet. But Kakashi can imagine what he’s thinking. He has one of the most powerful dojutsu in the world; if there are people who can react to an ice-release kekkei genkai like this, there are surely more than enough people who would treat him like a monster as well.

Just then, one of the villagers, gets up and points at Nagato. “That –that boy is a monster too! He did something with his hands and blasted us away! We should kill him!”

Konan and Yahiko tense. Konan hides some paper shuriken in her sleeve, ready to launch.

Kakashi has had it with these people. He unsheathes his sword and channels his lightning chakra through it, pointing it at the offending villager. “Funny that you should say that,” he says, enjoying the way his face pales. Kakashi saunters up to him, but the stupid man doesn’t move away, probably underestimating him since he is a child. “From this standpoint, the only monsters here are the pathetic ones murdering people for abilities they didn’t choose.”

The stupid man tries to punch him, but Kakashi simply points his kodachi at him, letting the sword pressure his chest just enough to let beads of blood out. The man screams and looks at him fearfully. “Get lost,” Kakashi warns them, and that’s enough for the villagers to grab their friend and scatter.

When he turns back to the Ame trio, they’re watching him with impressed expressions. Yahiko whistles. “You’re one scary kid. No wonder you’re Orochimaru’s apprentice.”

“He deserved it,” Kakashi shrugs.

“Yes, he did,” Jiraiya says grimly, Orochimaru next to him. Kakashi looks at the ANBU behind them, their necks twisted unnaturally; yep, all dead. 

“Kiri did this just because of a bloodline?” Konan asks, pale.

Orochimaru shakes his head. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the work of Kiri. Though I have no doubt they would have done the same thing. These people aren’t Kiri black ops; they’re Root.”

Kakashi’s blood goes cold. “You mean Root is the one killing kekkei genkai holders? That’s insane! Why?!”

Orochimaru’s mouth twists. “Danzo always hated any power that he couldn’t use. I’m sure he was only too glad to aid Kirigakure in their ridiculous bloodline purges. Root is simply carrying out his will."

Kakashi’s stomach twists. To think that Danzo’s hands were reaching this far. It wasn’t just him but Zetsu too. Just how much of the wars and death were really the result of other people’s plans?

“They’re dead anyway,” Orochimaru says coldly, looking at the dead shinobi behind him with disgust. “Unfortunately for Danzo, he died before he could recruit too many shinobi into his little army. This group of shinobi were the only Root shinobi stationed in the Land of Water. They won’t be causing any more trouble here.”

Kakashi narrows his eyes. The only way a person can recognize Root shinobi so easily is the silencing seal on their tongues, which should have disappeared after Danzo’s death. The only other way is if there’s a trace of the silencing seal, which only the person who applied the seal can even see. Orochimaru must have been deeper in Danzo’s clutches than Kakashi realized. No wonder the Sandaime sent him along with them.

“What– What are you are you planning to do with me?” a fearful voice pipes up behind them. It’s the woman they just saved. _Oh right._

They find out her name is Yui, a member of the Yuki clan as suspected. Since this village, or any place in the Land of Water really, would prefer to see her dead, it’s unthinkable to let her stay here. Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko have that same stubborn glint in their eyes that Naruto and Obito did. Kakashi’s heart aches just looking at them.

“She’s coming with us!” Yahiko says resolute, staring Orochimaru in the eye.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Jiraiya and I already have enough to worry about with you brats!”

“Hey Orochimaru! It’s not like I don’t agree but don’t call my students brats!”

Kakashi sighs loudly. Well, guess it’s up to the nine-year-old to be practical again. (not that he’s actually nine, but still)

He goes to the woman and tries to make himself seem as harmless as possible. “Yui-san, do you have any relatives who would be happy to take you?”

“I have some family in Yukigakure in the Land of Snow. I would have gone there ages ago myself. But there’s no way I can take that trip all by myself. They’ll kill me!”

“We won’t let that happen,” Kakashi promises.

“He’s right, Yui-san,” Konan says next to him soothingly. “We’ll help you get across the border and take you to the Land of Snow.”

“Actually, we don’t have anything else to do,” Jiraiya pipes up. “We’ve finished our first assignment. Until Sarutobi-sensei tells us what to do next, we could surely help this beautiful damsel out. What say, Orochimaru?”

Orochimaru looks at the woman coldly. She shrinks back. The Akatsuki flank in front of her. Nagato says smoothly, “We’re taking her back. We’re not letting anyone else suffer because of this endless war. That would be against everything we as Akatsuki stand for.”

Jiraiya is beaming with pride. And God if that doesn’t send another pang through Kakashi’s heart. He thinks of his own limitless, stubborn students; it’s so surreal to see the group responsible for so much ruin and destruction with his students’ spirit.

Orochimaru shrugs. “It doesn’t affect me either way. The Land of Snow is an acceptable detour. I have been there only once before myself so it might just be interesting. ”

They leave the village as soon as they can, after buying whatever they need from a local shop; the shopkeeper practically shaking himself in fear as he sells them food. Then, they head on their own way.

Thankfully, the journey to the Land of Snow is sedate and easy. On the way, Kakashi practices his lightning release and kenjutsu with Orochimaru. He listens to the Akatsuki engage Yui in easy conversation. They find out that her father was also killed in the purge in the village. The poor woman is obviously traumatized but even so, Yahiko in particular is an easy hand at cheering her up. Kakashi overhears him telling her about his own childhood in Amegakure, how his own parents were collateral damage in other nations’ wars. He spends time with her, coaxing her to perform some ice-release for him, exaggerating his own reaction of awe when she produces a rose made of ice for him.

Kakashi remembers Naruto telling him that Nagato and Konan went down the path they did after Yahiko’s death. And it’s obvious to see why. He’s like Naruto and Minato-sensei, with a luminous presence that soothes and inspires at the same time. By the third day of their journey to the Yukigakure, the lines of grief around Yui’s eyes have smoothened out just a bit.

Soon, they enter the Land of Snow with no major problems. They walk for an entire day straight before resting in one of the last towns before entering Yukigakure. They retire for the night in an inn run by an old grandmother.

Kakashi wakes the next morning earlier than usual haunted by dreams of blood and screaming. It’s about an hour before dawn. There’s still time before everyone else wakes up. So, he decides to get some fresh air and silently opens the shoji doors to step out, when he sees the Akatsuki sitting with their heads bent together on the engawa. Konan notices him and gestures at him to come and join them. It’s not like he can go back to sleep, so he does. Nagato and Yahiko smile at him awkwardly.

“Can’t sleep?” Nagato asks, concerned. 

“Yeah, nightmares,” Kakashi answers. 

“Join the club, kid. Or actually, you really shouldn’t. You’re like seven years old. Kids shouldn’t be in situations where they get terrifying nightmares,” 

_Too late for that._

Kakashi shrugs his shoulders. “I’m nine-years-old actually. And I’ve been a ninja for four years now. It isn’t a big deal.”

“Wait, four years? That means you’ve been a ninja since you were five?!” Yahiko asks, appalled. 

“The shinobi villages really love making ninja before decent people,” Konan says bitterly. 

“It’s screwed-up is what it is! What were they thinking, making a five-year-old a ninja?!”

“To be fair, it is wartime,” Kakashi interjects half-heartedly. But even he knows it’s not a good excuse. Kakashi became a shinobi at five and the only thing he had to show for it was the worthless legacy of borrowed power and another name on the memorial stone. 

Nagato looks at him curiously. “Are you an orphan too?”

Kakashi shifts uncomfortably. “Yes.” 

“War really has taken a lot from all of us, huh?” Nagato muses quietly. 

“That’s why we need to bring peace in the world. We can’t have another generation of ninja suffer like this.”

Kakashi would beg to differ, having lived and died through the Fourth Shinobi War, a war ironically having been fought over the very peace Akatsuki wanted. Kakashi would rather live through a predictable war rather lose every person he ever loved to a mad man’s vision of how the world should be. 

His skepticism must be obvious because Yahiko narrows his eyes at him. 

“You don’t think we can do it.” he says, pouting like the teenager he is. “Whatever! Who cares about what one kid thinks anyway!”

Kakashi rolls his eyes. 

“What do you guys mean by peace anyway?” he ventures to ask.

Yahiko looks more serious at that. “Peace is when pint-sized children know what it’s like to grow up with parents. It’s when kids don’t have to beg for food because their parents aren’t around. Peace is a world without violence.” Nagato and Konan nod aggressively in agreement.

“I don’t understand you,” Kakashi tells him plainly because he doesn’t. He never really got what Jiraiya or the Akatsuki or even Obito was trying to do. There was a glaring problem with their grand ideals which seemed so obvious to him; how could they not see? “What does being a ninja even mean without violence? Every shinobi village has taken part in wars before, even Amegakure. A genin has to be prepared to kill someone for the mission. Every jutsu we learn, even medical ninjutsu, is for the battlefield. There’s no such thing as a peaceful ninja.”

“You’re right,” Yahiko concedes. “It’s something we’ve thought about as well. It does look ridiculous when a bunch of killers start talking like pacifists. As long as we’re all ninja, peace can’t really be a tangible goal.”

Kakashi knits his eyebrows, confused.

Yahiko laughs. “What? Did you think we never thought of that? We’re not stupid. We know it’s a long haul. But the way we see it, it’s a cycle. Shinobi exist because of war and wars exist because of shinobi. If we remove one thing from the equation, the other will disappear. Since eradicating the shinobi system itself is too ambitious even for us, we can at least eradicate conflict. Since shinobi feed off and even live because of conflict, an era of peace will make it so that the need for shinobi disappears. Maybe, not right away; certainly not in our generation, or even the next, but eventually it will.”

“But you won’t get to see this peace. In your lifetime at least, there’s always going to be conflict,” Kakashi points out.

“Well, maybe less as the years go by. But hopefully, we’ll have done enough by laying the seeds. It’s up to the next generation too carry on our will. Who knows, maybe there can be a world in which we can use our chakra for things other than fighting. Konan here can make such beautiful origami with her chakra. It would be nice to see her be able to do it without being scary,” Yahiko says, looking at Konan fondly. She smiles back lovingly.

Huh. They actually had thought this through. Kakashi feels respect burgeoning for the trio. They aren’t taking the easy way to find peace by casting the world into a genjutsu. They know they have to patient for such an ambitious dream, that they won’t even be alive to see it. But even so, it’s important enough to fight for. 

Kakashi nods. “That sounds like a good world to fight for. I hope it comes true.”

The three of them look at him surprised and then smile happily.

“Glad you see it that way!” Yahiko says heartily, putting an arm around his shoulder. “We thought you would be creepy like Orochimaru but you’re actually alright!”

Kakashi gives him his 100% patented bullshit smile. “Thanks! I thought you would be a pervert like Jiraiya, but you’re alright!”

Yahiko sputters while Konan and Nagato burst into snickers behind him.

* * *

They reach Yukigakure the next day and Yui is reunited with her extended family with many tears and hugs. The Akatsuki bid an emotional farewell to her as well; Yahiko’s managed to charm her extended family in a span of five minutes. Kakashi’s certain that the Akatsuki has managed to win over Yukigakure, and consequently the Land of Snow with this act of kindness. The Yuki clan though sparse have a lot of sway here being the only ones to create ice with their chakra. Kakashi thinks of Haku wistfully. How wonderful it would have been if he knew he had family in another place, where they aren’t seen as tools. Perhaps in this world, his fate could be better.

Since the last few days have been emotionally taxing to say the least, they successfully sway Orochimaru and Jiraiya to stay for a day and explore the sights. Kakashi has been to Yukigakure twice before so the sights aren’t new. But the Akatsuki have never seen snow before, and they react to it like they’re seeing a rainbow for the very first time. Kakashi helps them create their very first snowman and is dragged along with them into making snow angels. It’s honestly the first truly innocent day Kakashi has had in a long time; Yukigakure, being a relatively unknown village has nothing to do with the war. So they’re able to take a breather and just be children for a while. When he looks at the Akatsuki’s faces, flushed with excitement and glowing with happiness, he feels a bittersweet ache that these are only children, and they’ll have to leave this insulated bubble of snow and childhood tomorrow, back into the adult world of blood and conflict.

By the time it’s sundown, they’ve managed to explore a considerable amount of the village when they notice a house made entirely of snow. When they go inside, they find a shop selling miniature figurines made completely of ice, glistening and refracting light like diamonds. Tiny little birds made of ice, a delicate sculpture of a woman dancing, a lovely figurine of a water lily; Kakashi has never seen anything so beautiful before. They find out it’s a shop owned by the Yuki clan; they make use of their ice-release kekkei genkai to create and mould the figurines.

“They’re moulded with our chakra,” the shopkeeper, an old man with laugh lines says.

“So it will never melt. You can take one each if you like. Gratitude for bringing back one of our family members.”

The Akatsuki are clearly entranced by the figurines as well. Yahiko chooses to take a figurine of a lion; Nagato chooses a rain drop, and Konan chooses a figurine of a rose like the one in her hair.

Kakashi meanwhile, is immediately attracted to the figurine of the little puppy, ignoring Yahiko’s coos behind him.

“There are jutsu that can make such beautiful things,” Yahiko says, looking at his lion figurine with bright eyes. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could all make such pretty things instead of using jutsu to kill people?”

“Yeah, it would,” Nagato says quietly.

A few weeks after they leave Yukigakure, they find out about a skirmish near Kumogakure and they head there immediately. Kakashi practices his Hiraishin along the way while also getting his ass kicked at kenjutsu by Orochimaru. Jiraiya helps Nagato refine the use of his rinnegan. Konan learns to sharpen her paper kunai, and Yahiko refines his taijutsu.

That’s another thing Kakashi’s noticed about the three of them, Yahiko is the weakest of them yet he is still the leader. But somehow, it makes sense.

They eventually enter the Land of Lightning and try to lay low as they get closer to Kumogakure. The people of Kumogakure are notoriously hot-blooded; a wind of two of the Sannin can easily be taken as a declaration of War.

It’s just their luck that they literally bump into the skirmish that the Sandaime warned them about.

They come across a group of about twenty Root shinobi not even bothering to disguise themselves—they’re disguised as Konoha ANBU— all converging on one ninja who’s shielding three children behind him. Kakashi doesn’t even need to think before throwing three marked kunai at them and finishing three of them off in a quick but brutal battle. Behind him, Orochimaru and Jiraiya are still fighting the others, but when Nagato and Konan join in, the battle is over quickly. And Kakashi finally catches a glance at the shinobi they just saved; it’s Toroi, one of Kumogakure’s legendary jounin who passed early in the last third shinobi war. The three frightened children must be his genin team.

Ah. Well, now he knows why he died in the last war, and conversely, why Kumo entered the third war as well.

Toroi looks at them suspiciously and asks sternly. “Why are two of Konoha’s Sannin lending me a hand against their own shinobi?”

Orochimaru and Jiraiya look at each other; Jiraiya then turns to Toroi and says earnestly “Well, these ANBU technically weren’t supposed to attack you at all. They’ve kinda gone rogue. Our sincere apologies for them ganging up on you like this.”

Toroi’s eyes narrow. He’s still shielding his kids from them as if things could go wrong in a minute. “So your ANBU was not under orders from your Hokage to attack me?”

“Definitely not. In fact, we’re going around to stop them from attacking high profile shinobi like yourself. The war is bad enough without rogue shinobi adding to the conflict. We hope the Raikage can understand this for it is, a truce called forth by two of the Sannin,” Orochimaru says smoothly. He hands over a scroll tied with a ribbon that has the Konoha insignia on it. Toroi takes it carefully.

“I will convey your message to my Kage. If you’ll excuse us, my team and I have to head back,” Toroi nods at them and shepherds his kids away.

Kakashi sighs in relief. That’s one death they managed to prevent, even if Kakashi never personally knew the man. “Will this make a difference?’ He asks Jiraiya. “Will Kumo back off from going to war against us?”

“We can’t really tell but we did save one of their top jounin,” Jiraiya replies grimly. “That’s got to be worth something.”

And it is. The next news they receive on the road is that of Kumogakure calling a truce with Konoha.

In November, things finally begin to change.

* * *

_Late November_

_Dear Minato-sensei and Kushina-san,_

_Things are going well here. Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru-sensei intercepted one of the “skirmishes” with Kumo before it could happen. We’re heading to the Land of Iron next. The Akatsuki are hoping to establish some alliances there as well. Orochimaru-sensei and I think it’s a good opportunity to get my sword reforged._

_We dropped off the Root Shinobi at one of the Konoha stations nearby; hopefully he can give more information once he’s back home._

_Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan are nice. Nagato’s still struggling to use the rinnegan though. The rinnegan has so many powers, and each of them is so chakra-intensive. Yahiko is very smart, but he doesn’t pick things up as quickly as Nagato or Konan._

_My training is going well. I’ve been able to improve my range with the Hiraishin considerably. I can jump across cities now, though it will still take a bit more time until I can jump countries like you, sensei. My training with the kodachi is going well too._

_I almost got recognized by a shinobi from Kumo though. They thought I was the White Fang. My sword also gives off a white light, so they were confused._

_I hope you’re both doing well. Nagato told me to say hello on his behalf to you, Kushina-san. We’ll see you when we get back._

_Yours,_

_Kakashi_

* * *

Kakashi looks up at the clash of thunder and lightning in the sky, the electric blue of his affinity leaving the damp earth and atmosphere smelling of ozone. They have to pass through the Land of Lightning to reach the Land of Iron. Kakashi has always loved the Land of Lightning for its lightning storms. There’s something about the stormy skies that sets his heart at ease in a way that feels visceral, like the skies of his ancestors are calling out to him and there’s a deep need in the chakra in his veins to respond. So, Kakashi looks at the lightning, traces its arc, and wonders what exactly it’s trying to tell him.

“You’ve been out here a while,” Konan tells him, a yellow umbrella in her hands. “Do you like the rain too?”

“The lightning more than the rain,” Kakashi responds. Out of everyone in Akatsuki, he feels most at ease with her; she’s cool, calm, and practical. Kakashi never got the chance to face off against her in his previous life (and thank God for that), but he knows she was an S-rank ninja like everyone else in Akatsuki. He can easily see traces of that in her now. Her paper jutsu, while being unpolished, is deadly. He’s never seen anything quite like it. They’ve been sparring quite a bit with each other too.

“Ahh…that’s right. You have a lightning affinity,” Konan says. She looks up at the rain and smiles. “It rains all the time in Ame. Not like this though. The clouds in Ame are different. We rarely have thunder and lightning.”

“Maa…it’s the same in Konoha,” Kakashi offers. “It usually rains but rarely a lightning storm like this.”

“It’s a cumulonimbus cloud,” Konan says, pointing to the biggest, darkest cloud in the sky. “That’s the cloud responsible for lightning storms. Kumogakure is famous for those clouds. Jiraiya-sensei once said that that’s why most people in Kumogakure have lightning affinity. After a lightning storm in Kumo, there are still traces of lightning chakra in the air. That lightning chakra affects the chakra coils of everyone born here.”

Kakashi nods. Darui had pretty much told him the same thing in his previous life too. “Yeah. It’s not just natural lightning though. The second Raikage used his black lightning to change the composition of the air such that there would be remnants of lightning in the air permanently.”

“Huh. How interesting. Chakra is really amazing. To be able to change air like that,” Konan trails off.

“Yeah, it is,” Kakashi says, lost in thought. The second Raikage could change the atmosphere. Hashirama Senju could create entire forests with his wood release. The relationship between chakra and the natural world is something fascinating, Kakashi thinks.

But now that Konan brought it up, he looks up at the cloud responsible for the storm. The potency and charge of that lightning, how much more powerful could it be made with chakra? And in any case, what is a cloud made up of apart from water and wind? Both water and wind could be manipulated through elemental ninjutsu; if he could create a cloud using them….

“Hey Konan,” he starts. “Do you think you could teach me which clouds can produce the biggest storms?” he says, suddenly conceiving a crazy, almost impossible idea for a new jutsu. But Kakashi was Naruto’s teacher after all; he’s learned by now that the craziest ideas have some merit. 

Konan smiles at him knowingly. “Sure, why not. In exchange, I want you to teach me some elemental ninjutsu.”

Kakashi smiles at her. “Sure”

* * *

_December_

In the Land of Iron, they stop in a small village to visit a smithy known to Orochimaru to get Kakashi’s sword reforged. The smithy is owned by an old blacksmith family called Nakamura. When Kakashi shows the blacksmith responsible for reforging his sword his kodachi and introduces himself, he’s treated as a spectacle of awe. Apparently, they’ve heard of the Hatake; the exploits of his ancestors are quite famous here. By the end of the day, Kakashi has a newly reforged sword, sharpened with new metal that’s more conducive to lightning. There are also new seals drawn to the hilt; next to the name of Chinami Hatake, it says Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi loves his sword of course, but he leaves the village with something far more precious: stories of his ancestors and what brave and honourable samurai they were _and isn’t it a shame that they decided to become shinobi?_ For a long time, Kakashi only associated his family with shame and failure. But to hear of them being spoken about with not just pride but with _honour_ makes him think once again of just how blind he was to so many things before.

* * *

_February_

The Land of Sky has always been a revelation. Kakashi’s been here before but it still amazes him just how far ahead they are in their technological advancements. They aren’t here for any particular reason. After two months of averting conflicts across the nations, there was suddenly deafening silence. Jiraiya viewed this positively; it obviously meant that they’d managed to take care of most of the root agents creating trouble. And their interventions have helped out a lot; Konoha is in the process of signing a peace treaty with Suna at this very moment.

There are also negotiations happening with Iwagakure and Kirigakure. Kakashi is optimistic about the war ending soon. The incident with Toroi has made the rounds everywhere, and with that, there’s a slow change in Konoha’s perception. Since they’re kind of free now, Orochimaru decided to make a little trip to a country he’d heard of but never visited before called the Land of Sky.

The dominant element here is wind release. The ninja here carry metal wings around them at all times and use wind release to propel themselves to fly. It’s quite ingenious since no one can really see a ninja attacking from the sky.

When Konan sees one of these ninjas flying for the first time, she looks contemplative.

By the end of the week, she manages to create paper wings out of her origami jutsu. With the help of a wind release jutsu she’s learned from Orochimaru, she floats over them in the sky. She looks like a judgemental dark angel, and both Nagato and Yahiko look at her with hearts in their eyes.

* * *

_May_

Kakashi’s gotten used to life on the road. There’s an intrinsic freedom about it that wasn’t there before; he can see why Jiraiya likes it so much. He’s seen so many places, met so many people and learned so many jutsu, not just from Orochimaru but also from the people he’s met along the way.

 _You wouldn’t believe it, sensei,_ he writes in his sealed notebook. _These people use incredible world-shattering jutsu to create beautiful things. There are people with lightning release hiden techniques who create intricate glass sculptures out of sand, there’s a nomadic group that uses fire release to blow glass. Now, we’re in a mining village in Iwagakure where the miners use earth release to locate metal underground and extract it from the earth._

_There are so many ways these jutsu can be used to kill, but it’s reassuring to see that there is a way for chakra to thrive in peace._

* * *

_July_

_Dear Kakashi,_

_Everything is well here. We’ve been hearing so many stories about you! You’ve told us most of it of course, but it’s still strange to hear about it from everyone else. Believe it or not, you’re kind of famous now. And all before you turn ten years old! I fought Killer-B and A from Kumogakure last week and even he seemed to know of you._

_I_ _signed my team up for the chūnin exams and they all passed with flying colours! Their teamwork really has improved a lot! Their missions are mostly delivering scrolls to outposts and such things, which Obito thinks is really boring. He’s also heard all about your mission outside the village and is determined to catch up with you. I’m not sure if your plan of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ really worked._

_Please be careful; my kunai is always with you. Call if you need any help!_

_Love,_

_Minato-sensei and Kushina_

* * *

_September_

Kakashi turns ten-years-old. He celebrates it on the road, under the warm hearth of a campfire, the looming stars, and the soft smiles (or blank look in Orochimaru’s case) of his friends and mentors. Yahiko managed to order a cake a week ago in one of the villages they passed by and kept it warm and fresh in a special sealing scroll given to him by Orochimaru. It’s a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting, a bit too sweet for his taste but it’s still the most delicious cake he’s ever had.

* * *

_October_

And just like that a whole year passes. Kakashi is expecting a message from the Sandaime any minute asking them to return but it never comes. Kakashi suspects that their little group has uplifted Konoha’s image quite a bit, owing to their conflict aversions and also to the Akatsuki’s tendency to lend assistance to any bleeding heart that asks for it on their way.

Kakashi isn’t sure whether he’s relieved or disappointed.

* * *

_December_

After a long time of hopeful, barren silence, they receive another letter from the Sandaime about things heating up in a place called the Mountains’ Graveyard near Takigakure. There are reports of shinobi near the area disappearing, the latest one being a famed jounin from Konoha named Mayu Tanaka. Now that the war is… well not really a war anymore (more like a war in stasis since no one technically called it off), the shinobi nations have been cooperating with each other a lot more. Except for Kirigakure, but that was mostly because of the Kage there being a bloodthirsty lunatic.

Kakashi feels like there’s a ball of lead in his stomach. It has to be Zetsu who’s kidnapping those ninjas to create clones for the White Zetsu army. God, just thinking about those creatures makes him sick. Things are reaching the climax far too soon for Kakashi’s liking, but it’s not like he ever had the choice to decide whether or not he is ready. He has to be ready, for everyone he’s ever lost and everyone he will never lose.

They have to make their way there from Kusagakure; it takes about a day if they travel fast. Kakashi and Jiraiya try to formulate a plan with the limited information that they have. Theoretically, it shouldn’t be a difficult fight. Zetsu by itself isn’t much of a threat as long as they deal with it quickly and brutally. And Madara, from what Kakashi knows, should be a decrepit old man by now, kept alive only by the ten-tails husk.

He's still nervous and jumpy the whole journey there though. Eventually, on a break, Jiraiya and Orochimaru call him aside.

“Are you okay, kid?” Jiraiya asks him, concerned.

“Yeah, just a bit nervous about the mission. That’s all.”

Orochimaru narrows his eyes. “Why would you be nervous about the mission? I understand that shinobi getting kidnapped would be a frightening prospect for a ten-year-old but you’re not a normal ten-year-old.”

Kakashi’s heart thumps a bit faster. “Well… it’s still scary; you don’t have to worry though. I’ll get it in control tomorrow.”

“I’ve always known there was something off about you and that’s fine. I don’t need to know about it,” Orochimaru continues as if he hasn’t said anything. “What I do need to know is if you have any intel about what we’re facing. Because if either you or Jiraiya,” he says, glaring at Jiraiya. “have information about a threat that could be useful and you’re purposefully withholding it, you are potentially compromising the success of the mission.”

Kakashi’s eyes are wide. Jiraiya looks nervous too. _Does he know?_

A few seconds of silence pass and Kakashi decides to take a risk. “We’re going to have to fight Madara Uchiha, not an Edo-tensei, but an alive Madara Uchiha. He didn’t die. He ended up surviving thanks to the help of a plant-zombie-thing called Zetsu. We’re fighting that too by the way.”

Orochimaru blinks and furrows his brow, confused. Jiraiya chokes on his breath and puts his head in his hands. “That’s how you’re explaining it?!”

Kakashi would like to see him try to do it better. Orochimaru still looks confused but nods agreeably. “Time-travel?” he asks, interested.

“Time-travel,” Kakashi nods.

“Theoretically it’s possible,” Orochimaru says nonchalantly. “Alright, tell me more about Madara Uchiha and this Zetsu creature we’re fighting.”

“Wait, that’s it?! That’s your reaction to Kakashi being a time-traveller?” Jiraiya says, dumbfounded.

Orochimaru sniffs disdainfully at him. “I had my suspicions about this long ago. Even with the brat being a prodigy, he still knew far too much. He just confirmed one of the possibilities. Nothing to get worked up about.”

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” Kakashi asks cautiously.

“I’m assuming you’re putting your future knowledge to good use. And Jiraiya here obviously knows, and I’m assuming Namikaze and Uzumaki know too. That’s good enough for me. Sarutobi-sensei knowing will probably do more harm anyway.”

And that’s that. They tell Orochimaru the limited knowledge that Kakashi already has. It should be worrying that there’s another person with the knowledge that he’s a time-traveller but it’s more of a relief than anything.

When they reach Takigakure, they ask the locals the last area where Mayu Tanaka was seen last, since the last mission she was sent on was a diplomatic mission to Taki. They decide it’s probably better for the Akatsuki to sit this one out. With some difficulty, Jiraiya and Orochimaru convince Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan to keep watch on the outskirts of Takigakure while they investigate the Mountains’ Graveyard.

Once they get their information, they head out to where she was last spotted. They keep their guard up. Kakashi summons his ninken and gives them a piece of clothing she wore most recently to track her, and they’re led directly to the entrance of a cave. Even as they approach it, they don’t need the ninkens' assistance. So, Kakashi unsummons them to avoid putting them in harm’s way. The air is thick with the chakra of the ten-tail’s husk. 

Kakashi draws his kodachi out as they enter the cave, carefully going down the tunnel with the lightest of footsteps. And then, when they’re close to one of openings in the tunnel, they hear voices.

“….war is not progressing as I’d expected. It will be difficult to find someone to carry on my will,” a raspy, disused voice says.

“Not to worry! There will be plenty of Uchiha in the battlefields to choose from!”

Kakashi’s blood turns cold. _Not this time._ He turns and nods at Orochimaru and Jiraiya. _Now._

Kakashi hurls a kunai with an explosive tag wrapped around it at the opening, imbuing it with a bit of wind chakra to hasten things up. _Boom!_

He teleports using the same kunai and the first thing he sees is Madara’s shocked and surprised face staring back at him. He’s not going to give him the chance to make any more expressions; he channels his lightning chakra fiercely through his sword and beheads Madara in one quick, clean swipe. He vaguely hears a slimy voice hiss “No!” behind him but he doesn’t turn around. Orochimaru and Jiraiya will take care of it. He then twists his hands into familiar hand signs and breathes out dragon fire directly onto the head and body. He only stops when he’s sure that all that remains is ash.

He turns around to find Orochimaru and Jiraiya throwing apparently every ninjutsu in their arsenal at Zetsu. It’s finally Jiraiya’s rasengan that lands the killing blow. And Orochimaru wastes no time in setting Zetsu on fire until it finally becomes ash as well.

 _It’s finally over._ Kakashi wants to sit down and breathe the fresh air of living in a world where Madara and Zetsu are finally fucking dead but he can’t. They still have to finish what they’re here for. He looks at the tree Madara had attached himself to, made of Hashirama Senju’s cells. There are tendrils hanging like that of a banyan tree, with large human-like shapes attached to them. The tendrils wither away and the large husks covering the shapes break open. Sure enough, the shapes reveal the abducted shinobi, Mayu Tanaka among them. Orochimaru goes to her and examines her. “She’s under a genjutsu but it’s easily something that they can snap out of.” He disrupts her chakra flow and sure enough, she’s awake.

Jiraiya and Kakashi follow Orochimaru’s example for all the abducted shinobi. It’s quite amazing how many ninjas Zetsu managed to kidnap. Most of these shinobi disappeared in Kakashi’s previous life as well, but they were most likely written off as missing-in-action due to the war. Now, since the war is much lower in scale, each village noticed a pattern.

They help the shinobi get up and get them out of the cave. Once they’re outside, Kakashi taps the seal on his shoulder and allows the chakra to flood his body. Then, he allows all the new chakra to flow straight to his fist and punches the entrance as hard as he can. Chakra enhanced strength isn’t really a hidden technique; most people just don’t have the chakra control to execute it. Kakashi had picked up a few pointers from Sakura once he didn’t have the sharingan drain affecting his chakra control. He transmits some lightning through his fist as well, just in case, to make sure the rock disintegrates. He can hear the cave collapsing, the rocks inside falling and destroying tunnels. The cave is reduced to rubble, and Kakashi is viciously glad.

Then, they head back to Takigakure where the abducted shinobi are given prompt medical attention and Kakashi is finally able to rest.

_It’s over._

Madara Uchiha is dead.

Zetsu is dead.

Kakashi falls into a calm, dreamless sleep.

* * *

_January_

In January, when all the abducted shinobi are back home, they tell their Kages of being rescued by two of the Sannin and a short, skinny, silver-haired boy who can break caves with lightning-charged fists.

In January, the shinobi villages declare a truce and the Kage sign a treaty officially ending the war.

In January, the Akatsuki go back to Amegakure. They say their goodbyes to Kakashi, extracting reluctant hugs and promises to visit. They have allies in the Hokage, the Sannin, the Raikage, the Land of Snow, and the Land of Sky. They stronghold Hanzo into an agreement with the might of the most powerful forces across all the countries on their side. Hanzo steps down easily enough, finally realizing that his quest for peace had turned into a quest for power.

In January, Kakashi saves the future, and in doing so, lets go of the past. He is home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...uhh...it's been more than a month. And the only excuses I have are the usual. Life pretty much got in the way. I'm currently working 12 hour days, which zaps away a lot of creativity. So, my apologies! I wish I could say it won't happen again but life unfortunately happens. 
> 
> On the other hand, this chapter is more than 8000 words which I hope makes up for it. We've officially reached the halfway mark. In the next chapter, time skip! The romance will start picking up from there. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with this story. :)


	8. while the days slipped by from my window watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten Years Later

_“What happens when people open their hearts?"  
"They get better.”_

_  
―_ _Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood_

Each hidden village boasts a special season. Kirigakure trumpets their icy and ruthless winters, the ice strengthening their affinities. Kumogakure loves their monsoon, as does Ame. The season for Konoha is, of course, summer. If you ask anyone in Konoha, they would say they love the way the sun naturally strengthens their affinities, how the sunlight flickers through the leaves, and the Konoha summer festival held every year.

When Obito was a child, he loved summer too. After all, summer was especially important to the Uchiha clan. It was when they learned the Fireball jutsu, when they sewed new Uchiha crests, and when the clan hosted the Konoha Summer Festival, taking pride in allotting stalls and festivities.

But then Rin came along, and like everything else that had to do with her, the way she looked at life seemed to be so much nicer. Rin loved spring best. She liked the flower bouquets, the pink sunsets, and the romance of the season. _I’ve got a spring in my step!_ she had said once, giggling at the sakura fallen at her feet.

Obito, being the enamoured child that he was, nodded stupidly and quietly changed his favourite season to spring.

Now, many years later, as his crush on Rin has matured into a soft, steady friendship, summer has taken his heart back. But he still has a soft spot for the season because of how happily Rin loves it. So, the pink spring sunset out the window of the Hokage’s office is always a welcome sight.

It’s especially welcome now since he’s spent the last hour counting the tiles of the ceiling, agonizing through yet another boring meeting, this one between the Hokage and a genin team. The team is debriefing the Hokage on their message delivery mission to the Land of Waves. The kids look underwhelmed at their first experience outside the Land of Fire.

It's so strange; no one would have ever thought eleven years ago that the world would be in such a state of peace that ninja would be positively bored.

Back when Obito was a genin, he’d assumed the war would go on forever; and his main reason for becoming Hokage was to put a stop to it. But then, just a year after Obito became a genin, a miracle occurred, and the ninja world is in an uneasy state of peace. And Obito certainly isn’t complaining about that. But today seems especially slow even for peacetime.

Thankfully, it comes to an end soon. It’s just past sunset when the meeting finally ends, and Obito heaves a sigh of relief.

Minato-sensei stretches in his chair tiredly. “Still feel like being Hokage, Obito?”

Obito huffs in annoyance. “Of course! But you know, sensei; I’d be a bit smarter about it. I’d let a shadow clone do all the boring stuff.”

Minato-sensei laughs. “Already trying to find shortcuts, Obito!”

Before Obito can respond to that absurd allegation, a knock on the door interrupts them.

“Hokage-sama? Hound is back from his mission to brief you,” Shiori— Minato-sensei’s secretary— says from the other side of the door.

Minato-sensei’s slumped shoulders straighten, and his eyes gain the alertness of the Yellow Flash. Obito’s fingers twitch nervously.

The door opens, and Kakashi Hatake walks inside tiredly in full ANBU gear. His silver hair, though dishevelled and dirty, reflects the moonlight shining through the window. Minato-sensei mentally examines him worriedly. Kakashi’s eyes meet Obito’s for a fraction of a second before flickering away, and Obito swallows.

“Hokage-sama,” Kakashi says in a robotic voice. “I’ve come to debrief you on my latest mission. Your secretary said you were free, but you clearly have company so I will debrief you later.”

“That’s unnecessary, Kakashi. There’s no reason why you can’t give your report in front of Obito,” Minato-sensei says exasperatedly.

Kakashi stares at him; Obito can feel the annoyance radiate even through his ANBU mask. 

“The mission proceeded smoothly. The Daimyo was very grateful and mentioned that he would like to visit Konohagakure sometime soon,” he says haltingly. “But there were some complications on the way back.”

“Oh?”

“I ran into the missing-nin Kakuzu on the way back. He was obsessed with claiming my bounty. It took some time and I’ve exhausted a lot of my chakra but I eliminated him,” Kakashi says almost apologetically.

Obito’s heart jolts. “The S-rank missing nin Kakuzu? And you decided to take him on yourself without any back-up?” Obito asks incredulously.

Kakashi rolls his eyes at him. And god, it’s just as annoying now as it was when they were five-years-old.

“Yes, I judged my chakra levels and believed myself capable of dealing with him at the time. It was challenging but I managed to eliminate the threat. From my understanding, he was not affiliated with any organization nor did he have any grand goal apart from claiming the bounties of famous ninjas.” 

“You’re sure you’re alright, Kakashi?” Minato-sensei asks worriedly. “Do you have any urgent injuries? You should have gone straight to the hospital instead of coming here!”

“I’m fine, sensei. Just chakra exhausted and some scrapes.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Good work, Kakashi. You eliminated a S-rank missing ninja who could have become a terrible threat to our shinobi. I would have thought you maxed out on your big, bad, and scary reputation after the ‘Flee on Sight’ orders, but you continue to surprise me,” Sensei teases lightly.

Kakashi snorts. “I’m glad my Bingo Book entry is such an entertainment to you, Sensei.”

“Of course it is! And you know what else would entertain me? Heading straight over to the hospital.”

“But I feel fine. A good night’s sleep is all I need,” Kakashi protests.

“If you’re so confident, then I’m sure you won’t mind letting the medical-nin confirm your judgement,” sensei says sarcastically.

Kakashi sighs and gives the most unenthusiastic _Yes, Sir!_ He then salutes sensei and bows before body-flickering away. Obito gapes at the cloud of smoke left behind.

Minato-sensei’s teasing aside, Obito doesn’t quite know how it’s possible for Kakashi to just keep climbing higher and higher each time. Killing a missing-nin who fought the first Hokage is no joke. Obito has always known Kakashi was special even as a kid, but even he didn’t really understand his true potential before Kakashi went on that trip with two of the Sannin. At ten years old, Kakashi helped end the Third Shinobi War. That’s honestly more than Obito’s ever accomplished in his entire life.

Minato-sensei has all but confirmed Obito becoming Hokage after him, but in S-rank threat eliminating moments like these, Obito wonders, like pretty much half of Konoha, whether Kakashi would be more suited for the position instead.

As he’s pondering this, Minato-sensei gets up and stretches. 

“Well, that’s an end to that! I hope you’ll be coming to dinner on Sunday, Obito?” he asks hopefully.

“Of course, sensei,” he laughs. “It’s team tradition.”

Sensei nods. “Right! I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Obito decides to take a chance and ask sensei about it. “Wait! Sensei, can I ask you something?”

“It’s not like you to be hesitant, Obito. What’s wrong?”

Obito swallows. Honestly, sensei’s answer could completely end up bursting his bubble, but he’s going to be the next Hokage. And Hokages can’t afford to live in bubbles.

“Why did you choose me as your successor? Why not Kakashi?”

Minato-sensei blinks. “I didn’t know you felt unworthy of the position.”

“That’s not it,” Obito says frustratedly. “It’s just—Kakashi is amazing. He helped end the war. He was trained by you and one of the Sannin. He’s been on so many missions. He has such a scary reputation. It’s not that I don’t feel worthy of the position. But, I do kind of feel he deserves it more than I do.”

Sensei hums. “Well, you are correct there. If I were to declare Kakashi as the next Hokage, no one would have a problem. Some would be very pleased.”

Obito’s stomach sinks. _I knew it…_

“But you have something he doesn’t, Obito.”

Obito blinks. “The sharingan?” he asks stupidly.

Sensei looks heavenward, like he used to do when Obito was being a particularly stupid genin.

“No, not the sharingan. But I’m not telling you what. It’s up to you to figure out,” he says cheekily.

Obito sighs, exasperated. _What did I expect?_

“But also,” Minato-sensei continues. “I think your opinion of Kakashi might be a bit skewed, Obito. He might be a legend, but so are you. Don’t sell yourself short. You’re an S-rank threat yourself. If you talk to Kakashi, you might find more similarities than differences.”

Obito winces. “It’s not like I haven’t tried but it feels a bit difficult to approach him sometimes. It feels like he avoids me specifically.”

Minato-sensei nods, unsurprised. Obito had assumed it to be his imagination running amok, but Minato-sensei’s reaction confirms it to him: Kakashi doesn’t like him. 

Obito had noticed it first about a year after Kakashi came back from his trip, already a legend. Kakashi was never one to mingle with his pears but after his trip, he seemed even more closed-off. The only one in their peer group he deigns to have a conversation with is Gai.

Obito has no idea what changed but the Kakashi that came back from the trip was off somehow. Cold, sharp, and steel-edged. Obito still remembers catching a glimpse of him when he first came back ten-years ago, two of the Sannin in toe. “ _He looks different,”_ he’d said to Rin. “ _There’s something else in his eyes now.”_

 _“It’s been so long since we last saw him, Obito. Of course he’s changed! He must still be as cool as ever though!”_ she’d replied, her annoying hero-worship making its return.

Although it was entirely possible Rin was right, Obito was still suspicious. His suspicions deepened when it looked like Kakashi had an obvious issue with him more than anyone else. With the others, he tried to at least have a conversation, no matter how short. But with Obito, he could barely make eye-contact. The few times Obito’s tried to hold out an olive branch, Kakashi has declined in the brusquest way possible.

It's disheartening. Obito has never admitted to anyone before but when they were children, Kakashi was the person he looked up to most in the world.

_He still is._

He’d always felt an invisible string connect them, both outcasts, both kids who had too much to prove, both orphans. Although everyone else seemed to think Kakashi was cold, Obito wondered how they could be so blind. Kakashi’s problem never was that he cared too little; it was that he cared too much.

And now after everything, ten years after he came back, Kakashi’s only companions were his teachers and parental figures.

No matter how much of a genius or legend he was, that had to get lonely.

Well, Obito’s going to have to deal with him as Hokage someday. He also needs to find out what it is that he has that Kakashi is missing _. The next time I see him, I’m going to bulldoze him into having ramen with me._

It turns out that next time isn’t very far off, because he gets his chance two days later. Just as Obito has finished delivering Michiko oba-san’s cat back (He’s waking up extra early nowadays to help the old ladies out so that he isn’t late), he hears a ruckus coming from the central street. Obito rushes there, already having a pretty good idea of what it could be.

When he gets to the central street, he notices people murmuring and pointing up at the Hokage monument. With dread building in his stomach, he looks up and winces. There, right across Minato-sensei’s face, is scrawled graffiti painted with a very familiar hand. The words ‘STUPID SCARECROW’ flash at him from sensei’s mountainous face.

_Oh, Naruto …_

“Where in the world could he be?!” A frustrated ANBU asks, having given up all pretence of being unseen and unheard.

“You’re not likely to find him that easily. If I know Naruto, he would have taken measures to hide away among the crowd,” Obito tells him sympathetically.

“We don’t have much time! The kid used some sort of special paint to draw those graffiti. They won’t come off!” ANBU Owl— or Yugao —tells him.

“That’s because it’s not paint. Those are seals,” a voice pipes up next to him. Obito’s heart skips a beat. Kakashi is standing beside him looking impressed. “Naruto used a special formula to lock the graffiti on the mountain with fuinjutsu. I’m guessing that only he, and maybe Kushina-san, knows the formula to be able to reverse it.”

“A graffiti-locking seal! Of course Naruto would come up with that,” Yugao says annoyed. She’s been tasked with catching Naruto before; she knows what the kid is capable of.

In times like this, Obito really wishes Kushina hadn’t decided to start Naruto’s training early. Obito is proud of the kid, for sure. It’s impossible not to be when Naruto is the best possible amalgamation of Minato-sensei and Kushina. He’s so intelligent; if their world had better definitions for prodigies, he’s sure Naruto would be included. But the kid annoyed so many people with his pranks that people just aren’t willing to give him that credit.

And yeah, Obito maybe also has a soft spot for the kid because he reminds him of his childhood self. Though Obito will admit, Naruto channels his loneliness far more creatively than Obito ever did.

“I think it would be best if you left this to me,” Kakashi says to the ANBU, sighing. “This situation is partly my fault anyway.”

The ANBU hesitate.

Kakashi massages the bridge between his eyebrows, annoyed. “Okay, consider this officially pulling rank over you. I’ll handle this.”

“And I’ll help,” Obito interjects. When Kakashi looks at him skeptically, he feels his hackles raise. “What?! I know Naruto’s hiding places and what he’s likely to do. Besides, you’re going to need someone in your corner. If that ‘scarecrow’ on Minato-sensei’s face is any indication, he’s really angry with you.”

Kakashi gets a guilty look on his face at that. _So, something did happen between them. Interesting._

“If that’s the case, we’ll leave it to you then, senpai. Good luck!” Yugao says earnestly before the ANBU shunshin themselves away.

An awkward silence descends between the two of them now that they’re left alone. That’s right. This is the first time that they’re working together, even if it’s just catching a silly kid.

“You can leave. I know you have your duties to the Hokage,” Kakashi tries again.

_Oh, for…_

“Dealing with Naruto is part of my duties to the Hokage,” Obito replies dryly. “Besides, the kid is like a little brother to me. I need to look out for him.”

_Since you obviously haven’t._

Here’s the thing. Obito’s been a guest at the Namikaze-Uzumaki household ever since he was put on Minato-sensei’s team. He knows what Kakashi means to them. There are pictures all over the house of the family with Kakashi. Whenever he visits, he can feel Kakashi’s presence there. Obito and Rin might be like family to Minato and Kushina, but they aren’t part of their family like Kakashi is. And that continued once Naruto was born as well. Obito knows for a fact that Kakashi is in the top ten of Naruto’s list of favourite people.

He also knows that Kakashi’s aloofness and disinterest hurts the kid. Every dinner missed, every training session postponed, every long mission without a word all adds up. And the only thing left to do is for anger and loneliness to etch itself permanently on the Hokage carvings in the hope that someone gets a clue.

Kakashi reads between the lines at what Obito’s saying because he gets a strange look on his face, half-disgruntlement, half-guilt. 

Obito might have needled Kakashi over what happened between him and Naruto once upon a time, but he’s learned a lot of restraint over the years.

So, he says, “I don’t know much about your relationship with Naruto. But if you’re volunteering to go after him, I’m assuming you want to fix whatever happened between you two. Do you have a plan to find him?”

Kakashi looks surprised but doesn’t press. He just nods and says, “Yeah, I do.” He then takes out a scroll, bites his finger, and summons eight dogs. They immediately try to slobber Kakashi in a blanket of cuddles, while Kakashi mock protests. Obito looks on, amazed. He knew Kakashi had a dog summoning contract, but somehow, he didn’t think Kakashi would be so affectionate with them.

“Alright, guys!” Kakashi tells them, laughing. “I’m going to need you to find Naruto for me. You remember Naruto right?”

“Of course, boss!” a dog wearing sunglasses of all things, yips.

The dogs sniff the ground and trot forward slowly. Kakashi motions at Obito to follow. They follow the dogs as they try to pinpoint the scent.

“Are your injuries healed?” he asks Kakashi.

“Yes, I didn’t have many injuries,” Kakashi says awkwardly. “I had some scrapes, and my chakra was exhausted. They healed all of it, but Minato-sensei wants me to stay in the village and not use my chakra at all. He said it would help chakra regeneration since I spent so much of it in the fight.”

Obito squints at him. “You just used a summoning jutsu.”

Kakashi rolls his eyes. “I didn’t say I agreed with sensei.”

_The first thing I’m going to do as Hokage is make sure all the genius ninja in this village take a day off. Between Minato-sensei, Itachi, and Kakashi, it’s almost as if overworking to the point of recklessness is a common genius trait._

“Boss! Boss!” one of the ninken call out in front of them. “We got the kid’s scent!”

“Good job guys!” Kakashi tells them. And then they follow the ninken into the streets.

The ninken take them through the winding gullies and alleyways of the village, squeezing through narrow spaces and apologizing to passers-by. When they finally get out of the alleyways to one of the main streets, the ninken look excited. It looks like they’ve finally found the source of their scent.

The street they’re on seems awfully familiar. And then it hits, they’re back on the central street; if they’d walked forward, they would have gotten to the same spot anyway.

“I have a feeling Naruto is leading us on a wild goose chase,” Kakashi sighs as they run behind the dogs.

“Well, Naruto is one of the smartest kids I know. I can believe that.”

“Ugh. I just know the kid is trying to punish me in some way. I wouldn’t be surprised if the end to all this is another prank.”

“You must have really pissed him off then,” Obito says pointedly.

“….I missed his sixth birthday,” Kakashi mumbles.

Obito blinks. “Oh, you totally deserve what you’re getting.”

“Don’t rub it in.”

“We found the source, boss! It’s that kid over there!” the largest dog among them says. Before them is Naruto, wearing his trademark orange jacket with the hood over his head.

Kakashi looks suspicious, but nods and smiles lovingly at his dogs. “Thanks a lot for your help, guys. I’ll take it from here.”

The dogs nod and disappear in a poof of smoke. Kakashi approaches the small figure and pulls down the hood of the jacket.

“Hey! What are you trying to do?!” a surprised kid—Tsume Inuzuka’s child — says.

“Naruto put you up to this huh?” Kakashi asks, resigned.

The kid blinks. “Oh, so you must be the Kakashi nii-san Naruto was complaining about! Haha! I bet you weren’t expecting me under the hood, huh?”

“What do you want in return for telling us where Naruto’s hiding?” Kakashi asks him.

“What makes you think I’d ever betray my friends? You don’t deserve to know, old man!”

Obito snickers at their conversation. To see Kakashi at such odds with a six-year-old is a truly remarkable thing. As he’s watching their conversation amusedly, he notices something odd in the background. A woman, quite ordinary and not very distinguishable; but the way she carries herself is—off. Obito looks at her closely and notices a mark on her cheek, suspiciously familiar.

_Naruto._

Obito turns away from the woman’s view and activates his sharingan, and then, the mangekyo.

_Kamui._

Obito twists into his pocket dimension before appearing on the other end, right in front of the woman, catching her completely by surprise. Before she can escape, Obito whips out his ninja wire and traps her in place.

“How are you doing, Naruto?” he asks cheerfully.

Naruto, trying and failing to squirm out of the wires, finally gives up his transformation and reverts back to his original form.

“I’m going to get you back for this, nii-san,” Naruto tells him sullenly.

Of that, he has no doubt. But to preserve his pride, he says “Well, you didn’t get me this time. So I guess we’ll see about that.”

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Tsume’s kid also appear before them. Kakashi looks utterly gobsmacked, and he’s looking at Obito with— Obito would like to say awe, but it isn’t; it looks a bit like caution. Oh.

It looks like Kamui might have surprised Kakashi a bit. Obito feels a little bit smug; Kamui was one thing in his arsenal that was impenetrable.

Still though, he would always have a bitter feeling about his powers. While they were undeniably helpful in missions, he would easily trade phasing through walls and his own pocket dimension to have his grandmother back.

Kakashi physically shakes off his surprise and caution like one of his dogs and turns his attention to Naruto.

“Hey, Naruto. I take it you’re really, really mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at all! I don’t care that you had a stupid mission and couldn’t come to my birthday! Who cares about such things anyway?!”

Now that’s a bold-faced lie. Naruto will never admit it, but he probably thinks Kakashi is the coolest person in the world. Kakashi is to Naruto what Itachi is to Sasuke. So, he has obviously taken Kakashi missing his birthday extremely hard.

Kakashi scratches the back of his down and sits on his knees in front of Naruto. “I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to miss your birthday party. As your nii-san, I should have been there. I have no excuses. But I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Naruto looks at him accusingly. “You promised to be there. You broke your promise. Mom said anyone who breaks their word is free game for pranks up to ten years.”

_Dear god, Kushina._

Kakashi nods seriously. “Yes, we are. But Naruto, do you remember when you gave me _your_ word that you wouldn’t paint on the Hokage faces anymore?”

Naruto looks defiant. “I do. But I crossed my fingers behind my back when I made that promise! So it doesn’t count.”

Kakashi snorts, which then dissolves into a barking noise of laughter.

_Oh, it’s the first time I’m hearing him laugh._

_It’s so…dorky._

“Oh my god, kid. I’m really glad you broke your word,” he laughs, continuing to bark and snort like a dog. “A graffiti-locking seal? At your age? You’re really trying to put all us prodigies to shame, aren’t you?” he asks Naruto fondly.

Naruto’s doing that adorable thing where he’s pretending to not care but is shuffling his feet shyly, looking up for approval. “You thought it was cool?”

“The coolest thing in the world! I didn’t know Kushina-san had gotten so far along in your training.”

“Well, training with mom was reaaaallyy boring. But when she told me she could teach me a seal that would help me become the greatest prankmaster ever, I had to learn it! I practised really hard too!”

“I’m sure you did! And that bit with throwing me off with the scent was a great idea too!”

“Hehe, it was pretty smart huh?”

“But,” Kakashi says, ruffling Naruto’s hair. “Your transformation jutsu still needs work. Your whisker marks gave you away.”

Naruto just looks up at Obito and mouths ‘traitor’ at him. Obito shrugs helplessly.

“You know, Naruto. I know I couldn’t be there for your birthday last week. But how about I make it up to you by spending the day with you today? I was fighting an S-ranked ninja while I was away. Don’t you want to hear about that?”

“An S-ranked ninja? That’s so cool!”

“Yep! A really strong S-rank ninja too! He almost won!”

Naruto’s bouncing up and down excitedly. “Oh wow! What happened? What happened?!”

“How about this? I’ll tell you the whole story if you reverse the seal on the Hokage monument and help me clean up the graffiti.”

Naruto pretends to pout for a minute before saying “Fine”.

Kakashi sighs with relief and detangles Naruto from the ninja wire. He looks up at Obito with a warm look on his face.

“Thanks, I wouldn’t have been able to find him without you. That space-time jutsu of yours is amazing.”

“Um, you don’t have— it’s fine! It’s all fine,” Obito says awkwardly. He’s never been good at taking compliments.

“Obito nii-san is really strong!” Naruto pipes up. “He’s going to be the next Hokage. Don’t you think he’s cool, Kakashi nii-san?”

Obito wants to bury himself in a hole and die.

“I do. Obito is really cool. There’s a lot you can learn from him, Naruto.”

Obito snaps his neck up, astonished. Kakashi just smiles at him.

And then, out of nowhere, Obito feels like he’s floating on air, like he’s about to take a giant leap, but he’s not entirely sure where he’s falling. But he’s brought back to solid ground soon enough.

“Thanks for all your help, Obito. I’ll see you around then,” Kakashi says, and turns Naruto’s shoulder to leave.

“Wait!” Obito almost yells.

Kakashi looks at him puzzled. Obito feels embarrassed and annoyed. _Why did I do that?_ He has no real reason to stop Kakashi, unless you counted _I’ve always wanted to talk to you. You have no idea how much I’ve been chasing after your shadow._

And that’s certainly not a thing Obito can ever say.

As Obito stands there, growing redder and redder while trying to think of an excuse to hold off Kakashi for even ten minutes, Kakashi mercifully understands. He tells Naruto to go hang out with the Inuzuka kid for a little bit because “Obito and I have something to discuss.” Naruto doesn’t protest much apart from giving Obito the stink-eye before he goes off to the side with the Inuzuka child.

“What’s up?” Kakashi asks.

“It’s—not a big deal really. I don’t know if you know but, I’m helping Minato-sensei out at the Hokage office twice a week because, well, he’s been thinking about making me his successor.”

“He’s not just thinking about it; he _is_ going to make you his successor. Everyone knows that.”

And Obito really wishes this wasn’t the case. If it was just speculation, he could handle it. But ever since Minato-sensei announced Obito as the inheritor of his will, the way people have been looking at him has been so different. Like he’s some kind of God. The whole thing makes him deeply uncomfortable.

“Right,” Obito sighs. “Well, you’re one of the best ninja in the village. You helped end the war. You’ve trained under both Minato-sensei and Orochimaru-sama. There’s going to be a situation where we need to work together, whether or not I’m Hokage. So, in the spirit of that, I wanted us to get to know each other.”

“We already know each other?” Kakashi says, looking very confused.

For a second, Obito wonders if this is the reason why Minato-sensei didn’t choose Kakashi to be Hokage. Kakashi is a genius, a once in a generation talent— but he lacks social intelligence. In Kakashi’s book, “knowing each other” meant knowing a person’s name and probably their bingo book entry. A Hokage had to look after the village, which also included caring for the people in it.

But then again, that can’t be the reason. Tobirama Senju was never said to be a particularly amiable man, and he was a good Hokage.

“Yes,” Obito says patiently. “We know of each other. But we don’t really know—Look,” he starts over, getting frustrated at Kakashi’s increasingly confused face. “You’ve accomplished a lot more as a ninja than I have, and you’ve got more experience in some areas, I’m sure. When I become Hokage, I’m going to need your help. I know that you probably don’t like me. And I’ll admit I was pretty obnoxious as a kid. But I’d really like it if we could become friends.”

Kakashi blinks at him, looking genuinely taken aback. “Um—”

Obito is already starting to regret this. _What am I doing?_

“First of all, I haven’t accomplished more than you. Since you’ve reached the position you have, I’m sure you know how everything we do gets exaggerated,” Kakashi says, looking embarrassed.

Obito can admit he has a point there. 

“Also, I don’t dislike you. I don’t know why you’d get that impression.”

Obito rolls his eyes. “You avoid me every time you see me.”

“Well, to be honest, I always thought _you_ hated _me_.”

Obito’s mouth drops open. His first instinct is to protest but then he thinks back to how he acted as a kid in the Academy, and the few times after Kakashi came back from his trip back when Rin still had a crush on him. And yeah, he can see where Kakashi would get that impression.

Well, Obito’s been uncomfortably honest so far. Might as well continue.

“I never hated you. I just felt bad that I wasn’t as good as you. And I took it out on you; that was wrong of me. I’m sorry,’

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s not like I was the perfect example of good behaviour either. I’ll admit that I riled you up on purpose a lot,” Kakashi says sheepishly.

Obito feels a weight lift off his chest. This is a good start.

“And, you’re right. I haven’t been treating you fairly,” Kakashi continues. “You might have noticed, even with me and Naruto, I’m not really good at anything emotional.”

“Well, being a cold little robot is something that hasn’t changed about you,” Obito quips before realizing _oh shit, that might not have been the best thing to say._

“Thanks. I see being a sensitive crybaby hasn’t changed about you,” Kakashi quips back, smirking.

“Well, you’re still a bakakashi!”

“Whatever you say, crybaby.”

And Obito can’t help it, he smiles like an idiot because he’s just realized how much he’s missed this. Granted, Kakashi and him never got along, but this kind of banter wasn’t something he could do with anyone else. Even Gai was too nice for it. But Kakashi always gave as good as he got.

But they’ve exhausted Naruto’s patience by then. And Kakashi has to leave. They make tentative plans to hang out at Ichiraku’s during the week and then they go their separate ways.

Obito feels like he’s on a happy high the rest of the day. It’s as if he’s riding a cloud made up of sticky-sweet, silver joy. He’s extra chirpy in the Hokage’s office, leading Minato-sensei to give him strange looks.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a lot of time to revel in that joy. That very day, they receive news of a coup about to take place in Kirigakure with requests from rebels for Konoha’s help. And Kakashi is to leave to provide assistance, effective immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um...it totally wasn't my intention to just fuck off for three months but the only excuse I have is a) life and b) this chapter was a pain to write. There were a lot of rewrites and deletions. I took a lot of time to figure out CBTL!Obito's voice, his dynamic with Kakashi, what the state of Konoha is, etc. I'm still not very happy with it but I knew that if I didn't update it now, I would probably never do it. So here it is! Obito and Kakashi are kind of walking on glass, both of them unsure of how to interact with each other after years of barren silence while also experiencing a meteoric rise in the ninja world. 
> 
> On the plus side, I do have the next chapter planned out in my head, so with the added caveat of life not getting in the way, the next chapter should *hopefully* be updated sooner than this one. Also, you guys get three guesses as to who the Kirigakure rebels are. Hehe!
> 
> As always, I live for comments. You can also chat me up on @thedreamermusing on tumblr to discuss all things Naruto and this fic! I appreciate your interest in this fic and am very grateful. I'm really glad I had this project to pour some of my energy into this tumultuous year. And I hope you all are doing okay in these uncertain times.


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